Holiday calls from Carlsbad, California, to ask about the term bitchin’, or bitchen, meaning “great.” In the 1920s, the word was negative, but like bad, sick, ill, and wicked, this word developed a positive or emphatic sense. Surprisingly enough, the earliest record we have of the word used in this sense is from 1957 in the oh-so-wholesome book series Gidget! This is part of a complete episode.
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THANK YOU for spelling the word bitchen. I grew up on the beaches of San Diego with my brothers, 7 and 11 years older than me, both surfers. We subscribed to Surfer Magazine, and the ONLY way I ever saw it spelled was bitchen.
Fer sure, dude!