I received a question about the meaning of bitchslap offlist and thought
I'd respond onlist in case others might be interested. I tried to trace the
origin of the word a couple of years ago after noticing that it was being
used very casually on TV -- in late-night talk shows, and even by CNN
anchors. I remembered it from the debates about misogyny in rap music
and was surprised that one of the words that created outrage then was
now part of casual banter.

As far as I could tell, bitchslap began as a word for a form of violence
between a pimp and a prostitute designed not to cause bruises so the
prostitute could continue to work. There is also a use where it means the
opposite -- a pimp's use of a whip-like weapon made to scar the woman
and force her out of the business. In either use, it is a special and
intentional way of hitting a woman. It was often used in depictions of
violence against women in rap music, which is how it became widely
known. It has since been used very casually but I think its underlying
meaning is obvious within the word itself. Even when used for when a
woman is doing the slapping, it is her assertiveness that makes it a
"bitchslap."

The earliest use in a book I could find using Amazon.com's full-text
search is in "8 Ball Chicks" (1998), a book about female gangs by
journalist Gini Sikes. She quotes one of her informants saying, "guys still
shoot a female in a flash -- it's called a 'bitch slap.'" In "Shagadelically
Speaking: The Words and World of Austin Powers," published the
following year, "bitchslapping" is defined as "misogynistic term for
physical abuse popularized in gangsta rap music and seen frequently in
daytime TV talk-show melees" (where domestic violence is televised). It
has obviously become more popular since then. In its various forms,
bitch slap, bitch-slap or bitchslap, it can be found in many books
published from 2004 to 2006. I'm sure today's cool word will become
passe, but I think it's an unusually unfortunate word to be getting glib
use, or even to be given pop culture status.  For example,
Hollywoodbitchslap.com is a popular movie review site. What are they
saying, that violence against women is just a bad review?

I'm not in favor of censoring music, web sites, or discussions in which
that word is used, but I do think people who use it should be aware of
the meanings they convey. It's like someone seeing Chris Rock on HBO
and naively going around the next day greeting everyone they see with
"Hey N-----!" In this case, white people in the suburbs think a word that
has specific meanings in urban areas is cute, and are naively talking
about "mysogynistic physical abuse" or casually shooting women in a
flash. It's not the cute word people seem to think it is.

Jim Zwick