just curious, so ....

[WeWishUAMerryXmasNANappyNewYr]

what would you think if you knew someone used "little bitch" as a nickname for their child?

...

that awful

The childish phrase 'Takes one to know one' springs to mind.

How awful.

I would covertly watch the child, to see if the parent was merely monumentally thoughtless, or if they actually didnt like the child and were abusing them.

Some people swear a lot. She doesn't necessarily dislike the child at all. Some people feel stronger about swearing than others.

Also, if their child is 15, she may wel be a little bitch.

ooh that is nasty. I would tell her not to say it and to hell with the consequences! My friend (ex-friend as I can't be near her) used to call her much awaited and longed for DD a little bitch. Horrible

that's awful. it's not my dsd's mother is it?! she has said that before - and she was jesting! but personally i don't think it's a joking matter.

I use 'little horror' v occassionally but wouldn't dream of calling J anything else - some times he can be thou!.

it's a rather nasty term to use if you're talking gneerally about a child and they know what it means etc.

child is 9 months so doesn't know what it means. someone i know called dd her little bitch. she is 9 months old. sort of took me by suprise. i know she didn't mean it nastily - i quite often call some of my friends my bitches in an affectionate way. just wouldn't associate a child with this word.

horrible and totally different to an affectionate 'little horror' or 'little terror' even if it is meant in a 'nice' way. One of my friends calls her 10 month old an arse and I don't like that either. None of my business though, I suppose!

There is no "nice" way to use bitch, so it's horrible - I'd be wondering what she was calling me in private if she calls her dd that in public.

I don't think that even in the most colloquial of uses, that the word bitch is ever meant nicely is it? I know the word has come into use alot lately... Very street and all that - however, it's still NOT a term of endearment.

Problem is, the longer she uses it - the more every day it will become, and how will she feel when a) it becomes one of her childs first words and b) when her DD starts repeating to other people?

put it this way, my mum used to call my DB a 'little sod' as she felt at times he could be, one day in teh shop a lady said to him 'and what's your name' his responce 'i'm a little sod' was about 2-2.5 or so I think, mum never called him that again. it's awful to call a child that or a 'little shit' as my cousin call's his baby who's younger than my DS. what will it do for the child's self essteam when they're older??

I also don't think calling a child 'stupid' is something you should ever do either, cos they're not stupid you just have to explain it differntly.

I used to work in lidls supermarket and towards the end of the day when it was very quiet this man and his daughter (perhaps 7 /8) were at the till and he called her, in a very loud voice, "a fing cnt" she looked absolutley mortified. I couldn't believe it, I thought i misheard at first because i just couldn't imagine calling a child such a foul name.

I hate that c word - it's banned from my house, I know DH uses it but not around me and J he won't do.

It's horrid. Doesn't show the child much respect or set much of an example IMO. Horrible. Poor child

my mum and her bf were calling my ds litle shit the other day. i know they were joking but i got really mad. my sister used to call me that when she was annoyed with me and even though i guess mum and her boyfriend (who i don't like) were doing it cos they knew it would wind me up (they succeeded) i was very angry! when i was naughty mum used to call me a little sod and i hated it. fair enough if i had been naughty i guess it was used to punish me in a way but would never use it in a nice way after that.

Wow - I'm shocked that almost all of you think it's sooooo bad. One poster has even suggested that it might be an indication of abuse it's only a word!

I personally wouldn't call a little girl a bitch. I have referred to DS as a 'little bastard' before though. Not to him, but when I've been describing a really bad day to a friend and those words really sum up how difficult he has been.

yes but when its not too him its a little bit different and if he has been really difficult. what annoys me is people think it is ok to a) say it directly to the child and b) call a child it in a "friendly" manner.

I think it depends on your attitude towards swearing though.

I think it sounds ugly and harsh and inappropriate for a child.

I don't think it indicates anything other than a relaxed attitude towards language though.

hmmm i suppose i sort of agree in that sense. i just don't think it is appropiate to use around children i guess.

I do agree actually. Perhaps I should confess that DS is autistic, so bad days really are BAD DAYS - lol.

I wouldn't call a little girl a bitch, but maybe that's because I don't have a little girl. I'd certainly think it was inappropriate to say it about someone else's baby girl.

Where I live b$tch/b£stard are just everyday words to describe a female or male that's behaving badly. In retrospect it's ugly and thoughtless but I'm not sure that it's damaging because the children grow up hearing those words in that context. I suppose it's sad and depressing really, but to me it isn't an indication of anything sinister.

I hope some of that has made sense. My DS is still up at what, 2.40 am and I'm exhausted. So, if someone was to call tonight I may well say 'he's being a little bastard'.

i do similar. if i've had a bad day i will say ds has been a little sod all day. duno if i would use shit or bastard though even though where i live too if someones dp has done something we agree is bad we will all sit there and agree "what a bastard!" or if say a friend thought it was really funny to play a prank on me i'd say "you bastard" in a friendly sort of way, it just doesn't seem right to use it in a child context.

No, it isn't right to say it to a child. I just wanted to balance it a bit as I thought one or two posts were a bit extreme.

I used to work with a woman years ago - long before I had DS - and she would say about her DD 'ooh she's a bitch' and I would think 'how ugly', but because I knew her personality I knew that she really meant 'she really tries my patience and pushes me to my limits at times' but it was easier for her to express it that way. It didn't endear me to her, but it didn't offend me because I knew her DD was the apple of her eye really and she was just fed up or tired.

If the person you're posting about refers to her 9 month old DD as a 'little bitch' all the time - ie the little bitch is hungry, or the little bitch needs her nappy changed - I would find that really offensive. However if she say's 'she can be a right little bitch' I'd find it to be in bad taste but not offensive.

DS has just gone to sleep in my bed BTW so I'm going to join him.

Hope I haven't offended anyone with what I've said. I just wanted to re-dress the balance.