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WilliamofYellow t1_j6koa96 wrote

Reply to comment by ksdkjlf in TIL that the first use of the phrase "son-of-a-bitch" in American literature was in the 1823 book "Seventy-Six" by John Neal about the American Revolutionary War. Seventy-Six was criticized at the time for its use of profanity and was noted for its use of colloquialisms. by vrphotosguy55

The OED also offers this quotation from a legal document of 1655:

>Damaris Dry..to answere Richard Carter Headborough..yt she did..reuile him..Calling him ye sonn of a Bitch, asking him also where ye Bawd his mother was.

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Greene_Mr t1_j6kwedy wrote

Holy shit, she called his mother a "Bawd"? :-O

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WilliamofYellow t1_j6kx2ia wrote

And he was a headborough, the 17th century equivalent of a cop. I imagine things didn't end well for Damaris Dry.

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