literal meaning of son of a bitch

[english kimberly]

what is the literal meaning of son of a bitch? is it son of a female dog? a son of a promiscuous women?

bitch alone means female dog?

 

[cropje_jnr]

It refers to a female dog, but is also a pejorative term that generally applies strictly to women.

 

[Nunty]

Son of a bitch is a pejorative epithet - a bad name to call someone. In some circles it is not considered very strong and may be used jocularly among friends. They synonyms in the WR dictionary entry might be enlightening.

Literally, it means "son of a female dog".

 

[surikata]

Hmm..m..Seems I may be going out on a limb here so let me stress that my reply is my own thought and that I am at variance with the WF dictionary.
Thus: To Bitch/to be Bitchy about someone/something: Where one is making a fuss.
Son of a Bitch-Example of usage: If I hit my finger whilst useing a hammer and someone, say my mother, was within earshot I might say "O you son of a bitch" meaning the hammer was at fault and by inflection I indicate I might have used a far worse epithet.

Perhaps this helps.

 

[bibliolept]

One comment: "bitch" is sometimes used to insult a man, impugning his manhood.

 

[occlith]

A variant of "son of a bitch" is "son of a whore" so that also ties in to your mention of a promiscuous woman.