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I recently sent a message to my credit union complaining about the misbehavior of some staff members (treating customers with contempt). I ended my message by writing:

Karma is a b*tch.

The credit union flagged my message for "inappropriate or foul language."

Given the context and circumstances, are they right?

If you were a senior staff member at a credit union, and a customer correspondence landed on your desk critical of junior staff, and using the phrase in question, would you conclude it as "inappropriate or foul language?"

Or would you think, this customer has a valid point, as expressed?

Mr M.
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  • Whether or not is is "inappropriate" or "foul" I believe it is bad Buddhist theology. – Brian Donovan Jul 19 '14 at 23:10
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    I deleted my hasty answer. I found a very good explanation of your expression here: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/120956/why-is-karma-a-bitch Personally, I would avoid this expression in professional correspondence. The most common use of the word is denigrating and usually misogynistic. Even if that is not the specific meaning here, the expression is at the very least inflammatory. – Henry74 Jul 20 '14 at 00:29
  • @Henry74: That link is very helpful. As you can see from the answers there, this sense of bitch is not considered offensive by major dictionaries (unlike the sense that you are thinking of). So it seems that the credit union erred. – ruakh Jul 20 '14 at 00:36
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    Did you actually write *b*tch, with the asterisk? If so, then it's really you* who decided that it was inappropriate, and they simply agreed with you. – ruakh Jul 20 '14 at 00:37
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    The people who respond to customer bitching (if they're not psychopaths) probably hate their jobs and would like nothing more than to find some reason to literally or figuratively hang up on the customer. You can say the same thing with other words such as "turnabout is fair play" without giving them the excuse. Your error was tactical rather than syntactical. – Spehro Pefhany Jul 20 '14 at 01:15
  • Possibly it was flagged automatically by a computer as it contained a word on an inappropriate word list. Bitch can be offensive, so that earns it a place on the list. – Neil W Jul 20 '14 at 01:32
  • Did you ever provide the context you used it in? Am I missing something? –  Jul 20 '14 at 02:32
  • @ruakh Bitch is not a word which a parent or a schoolteacher tolerates from a ten-year-old’s mouth. That should tell you all you need to know about its taboo status. – tchrist Jul 20 '14 at 02:44
  • @tchrist: There are lots of things that an adult will not accept from a ten-year-old: "shut up", "go away", "penis", "vagina". This certainly does not "tell you all you need to know". The rules of communication between adults are different. (That's not to say that it's completely unrelated. But it's not enough.) – ruakh Jul 20 '14 at 06:12
  • @ruakh Consider that our own measuring stick is “content that a reasonable person would consider inappropriate for respectful discourse”, and how it applies here. – tchrist Jul 20 '14 at 20:26
  • @tchrist: (Disclaimer: I find your comment rather opaque, but will do my best.) I don't think the sentence "Karma's a bitch" is at all "inappropriate for respectful discourse". It's slang, but not offensive. (Multiple dictionaries agree on that.) If you think that that makes me an unreasonable person, then so be it. – ruakh Jul 20 '14 at 20:59
  • Did this question violate some rule? If yes, which one? I am not good at sifting through electronic manuals on policy for online stuff. < brain injury in Marine Corps (2002) Sorry. – Mr M. Jul 21 '14 at 22:08

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Given the context and circumstances, are they right? Is this inappropriate or foul language?

Yes, it's inappropriate in this context. The word "bitch" has offensive and misogynistic connotations. If we were talking about breeding puppies, the word wouldn't be a problem, but your email trades on the taboo nature of the word in order to get across your anger. This is inappropriate in business correspondence and rude to the person who receives your email.

I'll leave it at that. I would have written a longer answer, but it's time for me to take my two fine bitches for a walk. One is a schnauzer mutt and the other is an Italian greyhound.