2015考研英语词汇全面解读：“Bitch”

　　Let’s forget about the formal applications of English for one day and take a walk on the wild side of bad words.

　　现在让我们暂且将英语的正式用法放在一边，在“不良词汇”的边缘徜徉吧。

　　Today we’re going to talk about the word BITCH, which, without a doubt, is all over the place in the English language in all its elaborate

　　uses. It’s not as simple as you might think.

　　今天我们要谈论的单词是BITCH，毋庸置疑，它在英语中使用的非常普遍，无处不在。它并不像你想的那么简单。

　　BITCH. It’s a powerful word, it can be used as a noun, verb or adjective, and it’s almostuniversally misunderstood by non-native English speakers. It can be playful, sexual or violent. It can be offensive, neutral, and even used to empower woman. But in 99% of the cases, “Bitch” does not translate to “Prostitute.” Wikipedia says:

　　“BITCH”是一个强大的词，它可以用作名词，也可以用作动词或形容词，它几乎受到了所有英语为非母语的人误解。它可以是好玩的，与性别有关的，或者暴力的。它也可以是无礼的，中立的，甚至能够用在女人身上。但是在99%的例子中，“Bitch” 不能够翻译成“妓女”。维基百科说：

　　The word “bitch”, literally meaning a female dog, is a common slang term in the English language, especially used as a denigrating term applied to a person, commonly a woman. It often refers to someone who is belligerent, unreasonable, rudelyintrusive or aggressive.

　　单词“bitch”，字面意思指的是一只母狗，它是英语中常用的俚语，尤其是作为诋毁语用到人身上，通常是女人。它通常指的是好斗的、不可理喻的、粗鲁地入侵的或好攻击的人。

　　Let’s dive in. Here is how BITCH is used:

　　让我们来一探究竟吧。下面是如何使用BITCH的方法：

　　Bitch Almost Never Means “Prostitute”:

　　Bitch 基本上从来没有“妓女”的意思：

　　Accept that the translation of “son of a bitch” is misleading and does not represent how native speakers use the word bitch in other situations. Even in “son of a bitch,”I wouldventure

　　say that the expression doesn’t make me think of mother or woman in the same way that it’s translated in Spanish and Portuguese (“hijo de puta/ filho de puta”).

　　人们常常接受的“son of a bitch” 的翻译(“婊子养的”)是容易让人误解的，并且它不能够完全代表母语为英语的人在其它情况下是如何使用bitch这个单词的。即使是“son of a bitch”这句话，我敢说这种表达按照同样的方式翻译成西班牙语或是葡萄牙语(“hijo de puta/ filho de puta”)，也并不能让我想到bitch指的是母亲或是妇女。

　　The only exception to this is in American ganster

　　rap music, which uses the word “bitch” in a much more derogative

　　way (prostitute), often referring to women as “bitches and hoes” (hoe means prostitute). More on this below：

　　唯一例外的是《美国黑帮》说唱音乐，它里面单词“bitch”有衍生的更加贬义的用法(妓女)，通常把女人比作“婊子和妓女”(hoe指的是妓女)。下面有很多例子：

　　Bitch Literally Means Female Dog. There’s nothing really to explain here. It’s quiteliteral and this is probably the only non-colloquial use of the word.

　　Bitch的字面意思是母狗。这里没什么好解释的。这个完全是字面意思，并且这可能是这个单词唯一的非口语化的用法。

　　Calling a Woman a Bitch (3 different meanings):

　　称一个女人为 Bitch(3种不同意思)：

　　1.An annoying/ unpleasant woman: It’s definitely not polite to call a woman a bitch, but in most cases, it’s not as bad as “whore.” For example: (a) He didn’t leave a tip at the restaurant because he said that his waitress WAS A BITCH. (b) I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She’s BEING A BITCH.

　　一个烦人的/让人不愉快的女人：称一个女人为bitch绝对是不礼貌的，但是在很多情况下，它并没有“whore(妓女)”那么恶劣。例如：(a)他没有给餐馆小费，因为他说他的女服务员WAS A BITCH(是个烦人的女人)。(b)我不知道她怎么了。她就是BEING A BITCH(让人不愉快)。

　　Note: “She is a bitch” (permanent) is much more offensive than saying “she is being a bitch” (temporary state). All the same, to call a woman a bitch is never nice, so watch your mouth.

　　注意：“She is a bitch.”(永久的，现在时)比说“she is being a bitch”(临时状态，进行时) 更加无礼。同样地，称一个女人是个bitch是很不友好的，所以注意你的言辞。

　　2.A Prostitute: Rap music seems to be the only context where “bitch” means “prostitute.” Rap music’s use of “bitch” is a controversial, complicated issue which I’m not going to even try to explore right now.In my personal opinion, rap music, in general, demonstrates totally inappropriate treatment of women that nobody should imitate. See the “unified bitch theory “ as put forward by famous rappers, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

　　妓女：说唱音乐即Rap似乎是唯一使用“bitch” 表示“妓女”的语境。说唱音乐中“bitch” 的使用是个有争议的、复杂的问题，这个我不打算立刻探究清楚。在我个人看来，一般来说，说唱音乐里这种用法展示了完全不恰当的对待女人的态度，任何人都不应该模仿。看看著名歌手Dr. Dre和Snoop Dogg提出的“unified bitch theory ”。

　　3.An Empowered Woman: An emerging feminist definition that is becoming more common these days: “In a feminist context, it can indicate a strong or assertive woman, one who might make men feel threatened.” Check out this popular Meredith Brooks Song, “bitch” which demonstrates exactly this.

　　一个有权利的女人：这是一个新兴的女权主义的定义，最近也变的越来越常见了：“在一篇关于女权主义的文章中，它能够表示一个强势或者自信的女人，这个女人可能会让男人感到威胁。”看看流行的Meredith Brooks的歌曲，“bitch”，这首歌的歌词很好的诠释了这个意思。

　　Calling a Man a Bitch This is often playful, but can be mildly offensive. It means that the man is subservient, that he does everything for another person, and has compromised his dignity. You often use the possessive adjective. For example: I do everything for my boss. My friends at work tell me that I’M HIS BITCH. Sometimes people say “he’s being a little bitch” to communicate that he’s extremely unpleasant, not easy to deal with.

　　称一个男人为bitch，这个通常是开玩笑的，但是也略微有些冒犯的意思。它表示这个男人是屈从的，他做的每件事都是为别人做的，并且放弃了自己的尊严。你通常使用的是所有格形容词。例如:我做的一切都是为了我的老板。我工作了的朋友告诉我，我是我老板的奴隶。有时候人们说“he’s being a little bitch”来表示他非常让人不快，很难打交道。

来源：Reallife