Extant records suggest ‘whore’ has been in use since 1530. The word is derived from the Germanic word horaz, which means the one who desires. The word horaz had equivalents in many languages with diverse meanings but one underlying and unifying theme—sexual behavior unacceptable to society.
According to the etymonline.com , in Old Norse the equivalent of horaz was hora which meant “adulteress.” Danish hore, Swedish hora, Dutch hoer, Old High German huora meant “adulterer, fornicator.” They were coined to humiliate and slander women, and thus tar their reputation.
The current and widely acceptable meaning of the word for the past many centuries has been the one who has sex for money. The word horaz has not survived the test of time. Whore, however, survived due to its many references in literature. Shakespeare, for instance, used the word and its derivatives nearly 100 times in his writings.
The word ‘whore’ is used by both men and women against women. ‘Whore’ could be used by jealous men and women for women who are climbing the corporate ladder. ‘Whore’ could be used by a woman’s brothers, father and even mother for defying tradition and besmirching what is touted as ‘family honour’.
This cuss word is also used by men who have been spurned, ignored or put down. Cads who think nothing of a woman’s honour and dignity would use this word too.
To put it bluntly, ‘whore’ is the abuse of last resort, the ultimate intended insult to a woman that betrays the despicable attitude towards women, now and through history, which has gone largely uncontested.
In a world where women have been traditionally subjugated, whores were (and are) women who struck out on their own and opted for freedom. For both family and society, especially where tradition and orthodoxy hold sway, this becomes a reason to feel insecure and threatened.
Laughably enough, while social and moral stigma is attached to the word ‘whore’, no such stigma is attached to men who go ‘whoring’. In a sense, this underscores the unwholesome attitude towards women.
Through history, a great moral rift was created, and sadly continues to be created, between ‘whores’ and others. The slight and slur, once planted in their conscience, is passed on from generation to generation — that women, who assert their rights, are ‘bad’; women who comply with prevalent tradition and orthodoxy are ‘good’.
The world has changed since the word was coined. But the use of this cuss word continues to put down women, to break their spirit, to stop them from exercising their rights on their minds and bodies. Happily, women are increasingly undeterred by, and unafraid of, slander and slur. They have begun to stand their ground.
That is the best response to a cuss word which, frankly, demeans the abuser and not the abused.