“Religion is my bitch.”

[GoodTaste]

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[FONT=open sans, sans-serif] [/FONT]Silverman is President of American Atheists, the organization founded in 1963 by the grande dame of American atheism, Madalyn Murray O’Hair (1919–1995). The group, which has local chapters in many states, is currently based in Cranford, New Jersey, where Silverman makes his home. In recent years, the group has sponsored the Christmas-season “You Know It’s a Myth” billboard campaign in the New York City area. Silverman—who should not be confused with either the Egyptologist or the television animator of the same name—has appeared on such TV talk shows as The O’Reilly Factor. He writes on his blog that “Religion is my bitch.”


Source: The Best Schools

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I don't understand the meaning of "bitch" here. Because it can mean two opposite things. One refers to a very difficult and unpleasant thing; the other refers to something very good. So I have no clue what it means here.

 

[GoodTaste]

Do you really think that the president of society of atheists would think that religion was good thing?

Of course NO. But it is grammatically ambiguous. And I have difficulty in understanding its humor.

 

[Phaedrus]

Of course NO. But it is grammatically ambiguous. And I have difficulty in understanding its humor.

I believe that Silverman is playing on the slang expression "I'm not your bitch," GoodTaste.

Different native speakers will define that expression in different ways. I'd say that it means:

"I'm not someone whom you can get off on abusing."

Silverman is saying that it gives him pleasure to abuse religion (by trying to debunk it).

[P.S. I was composing when Piscean made the post immediately above.]

 

[GoodTaste]

It is no more grammatically ambiguous than any 'X is my Y' sentence. The only potential problem is what exactly is meant by the noun 'bitch'. Well, you may not know exactly what Silverman had in mind when he used the word, but if you look the word up in a few dictionaries at www.onelook.com, you'll find a range of meanings. Common sense eliminates 'female dog', so you are left with a few possibilities, all of them with unpleasant and/or offensive overtones. So, there is no possibility of it being something good.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English:

Bitch: anything memorable, esp. something exceptionally good:That last big party he threw was a real bitch.

 

[GoodTaste]

By now, we've returned to the starting point:

Do you really think that the president of society of atheists would think that religion was good thing?

Of course NO.

The question is NOT fully solved.

 

[Tdol]

I think it either means that it is something he has a complaint and grudge against (Definition 4 in the the second batch), or that he thinks it is subordinate to him (Definition 6):

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/bitch

 

[SoothingDave]

I don't care what your dictionary says. I have never heard anybody use "bitch" to express something memorable or good.

I think it's pretty clear that he means he is treating religion as his "bitch." That he is in control.

 

[Tdol]

Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English:

Bitch: anything memorable, esp. something exceptionally good:That last big party he threw was a real bitch.

I have not heard it used this way in British English.

 

[Phaedrus]

I believe that Silverman is playing on the slang expression "I'm not your bitch," GoodTaste.

Different native speakers will define that expression in different ways. I'd say that it means:

"I'm not someone whom you can get off on abusing."

Silverman is saying that it gives him pleasure to abuse religion (by trying to debunk it).

"Exploiting"/"exploit" would have been more accurate than "abuse"/"abusing." See also SoothingDave's post on domination/control. If someone regards someone else as his bitch, then he thinks he can have his way with her. It is rather funny that he should apply the concept to an "it." Cf.:

My car is my bitch. Screw the car mechanics who try to convince me otherwise.

 

[Skrej]

I have heard 'bitching' used positively, but never 'bitch'.

As an adjective, 'bitching' means something like 'excellent or great'. As as adverb, it means something like 'extremely', where it's more of a neutral intensifier.

That party was bitching = that party was great.
That's a bitching paint job on your car = that's an excellent paint job.

It's bitching hot out today = it's extremely hot today.
They did a bitching good job on your car = they did a very good job on your car.

Edit: I just realized that as an adjective/adverb, it kind of parallels the use of 'wicked' in parts of the Eastern US, converting an otherwise negative word into a neutral or positive modifier. Probably a good graduate thesis in there somewhere for some linguistics student.

 

[Raymott]

I can't even get a context from the Urban Dictionary that fits. That's unusual. However, one contributor does begin with: "one of the most versatile words in the english language; it is used to express a multitude of emotions; anger, anticipation, despair, endearment, envy, excitement, fear, horror, joy, shock, surprise, warning; all achieved by one's enunciation and intonation."
And I can't argue with that.

 

[Rover_KE]

Life's a bitch. And then you die.:-(

 

[Skrej]

Unless Death's your bitch. That'd be bitching!

 

[Phaedrus]

About a year ago, I used to see the image below on billboards while driving around town. It could just be me, but I believe it's a play on words.

Corona is a Mexican beer. "Bitch" sounds like "beach" if spoken with a Mexican accent. "On tap" can be interpreted in more than one way.

The meaning here ("This beer is your bitch, on tap") accords with the one I described above. I think RobertJ's meaning is also in play in the OP.

 

[JMurray]

I don't care what your dictionary says. I have never heard anybody use "bitch" to express something memorable or good.

I think it's pretty clear that he means he is treating religion as his "bitch." That he is in control.

I agree with SoothingDave. My immediate response was that the writer regards religion as something he can denigrate or humiliate as he wishes. He has the upper hand.

I have occasionally seen "bitch" used positively. I can't find the quote but I recall an interview with Miles Davis in which he says, about the pianist Dodo Marmarosa, "That Dodo Marmarosa is a bitch". It was intended as a compliment.

There's also "bitching", more commonly "bitchin'", as US slang meaning great, terrific, very cool.
We had a bitchin' time at the party.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/bitching

 

[Phaedrus]

I can't even get a context from the Urban Dictionary that fits.

I just found it in there under "someones bitch" (the authors don't use an apostrophe). The possessive here is absolutely key:

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Someones%20bitch

The definition is sloppy, as Urban Dictionary definitions often are, but at least it's something. This idiom is worthy of a linguistic article.

I did a Google search with the terms "whose bitch" and came upon an adorable, two-sentence piece titled "Whose Bitch Are You?":

"Everybody is somebody’s bitch. The fool is the man who doesn’t know whose bitch he is."