News & Vocab: Foul Language targeting Female

It is indeed a period of burning dry hot days!! And when some people feel hot, they might use the online forums as a mean to release their stress.

UK's Dailymail has an article, titled "Blogger who called Vogue model a 'skank' sues Google for $15million for unmasking her". You may follow the link to read up. What I find it interesting is not what this blogger did, but what she wrote. In my opinions, it is quite educational.


If you watch Hollywood movies, I am sure you have heard of all sorts of foul language, but it is not easy to find a series of them at the same time. Well, from this blogger, you can learn them in chunks. But before we look into those words, you must understand that I am not "teaching" you these words, I am just raising your awareness to various bad words so you can be more careful when hearing them.


Okay, ready? Let's begin!


First, the blogger used a word 'ho' . According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, a 'ho' is a slang, referring to a prostitute, alternative to 'whore'.


Second, they used a word 'skank'. From the same dictionary, it refers to "One who is disgustingly foul or filthy and often considered sexually promiscuous. Used especially of a woman or girl".


But according to the Dictionary.com Unabridged, 'skank' can also have a good meaning, which is also a slang, meaning "to dance rhythmically in a loose-limbed manner".


Lastly, they used 'old hag'. Well, actually, Dictionary.com stated that a 'hag' already has a meaning of 'aging':

1. an ugly old woman, esp. a vicious or malicious one.
2. a witch or sorceress.
3. a hagfish.

So, calling someone an 'old hag' is like 'a male man' or 'a female woman'. You know what I mean.

The word 'bitch'is no longer as bad as it used to be, as more and more men are using it to refer to their girlfriends, "Let me introduce, this is my bitch." Don't get me wrong, it is still bad, but the original meaning of "a female dog" is not as common as before.

Of the cruelest words I have heard, it has to be 'slut', which refers to a woman who has sexual relationships with a lot of men without any emotional involvement.

Obviously, all these words demoralise the female, so don't try to use them...... unless you must.

Vocabulary:
ho / whore
skank
old hag
bitch
slut


Resources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1207669/Rosemary-Port-sues-Google-15million-Liskula-Cohen-skank-blog-unmasking.html

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=17&art_id=86678&sid=25017953&con_type=1&d_str=20090821&sear_year=2009

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?dict=CALD&key=74759&ph=on
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=7735&dict=CALD
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=7736&dict=CALD