bitch hook

n. a curved metal device used with a chain to hold or secure lumber or other things, or to brake a sled on descents. Also bitch link. Subjects: English

Editorial Note: The unpublished manuscript for the Lexicon of Trade Jargon (circa 1938-39, now at the Library of Congress) includes in its section on “Lumber Workers’ Slang and Jargon” an entry for bitch chain and defines it as a “Heavy, short chain with hook and ring, used to fasten the lower end of a ‘gin pole’ (q.v.) to a sled or car when loading logs.” A gin-pole is defined there as “a small log.” Elsewhere, in a section under “Machinists’ and Machine Manufacture Workers’ Slang and Jargon,” bitch and bitch dog are defined as a “Special clamp used to hold work on a lathe.” The Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English includes an entry for the synonym bitch link, “In logging: a pear-shaped link on the end of a chain, larger and heavier than other links. When the chain is run through an opening a choker can be looped through this link to secure it.” The Oxford English Dictionary, with little elaboration, has an entry for bitch (also spelled beche or biche) that is possibly related. It is defined in citations as a mining tool used during boring for holding and bringing up (broken) rods. A bêche in French is a spade or garden fork (a pitchfork).

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Citations: 1992 Lewis J. Poteet @ Québec Talking Country @ Log Cabin Chronicles (1996) John Mahoney “Talking Country”: Bitch hook. All-purpose quick-release hook for use with tractor and chain. Tha [sic] name comes from a hole in one end of the slot in the long, central part of the device. After the hook is dropped over the towing mechanism, a chain may be pulled through the hole, then allowed to slide down the slot until it catches. When it is pulled back up to the hole, it releases quickly. 2004 [Ted] Rural Heritage—Front Porch (Dec. 28) “Bob-sled brakes”: When I get 15 to 20 people on the bob-sled, it really tends to push them downhill. I did hear about a chain you throw under the runners (with a bitch hook?). 2005 Dana Green Ravalli Republic (Hamilton, Mont.) (Nov. 7) “All aboard”: Joslan pointed out some of the historic equipment, including a hook and chain used to load logs onto railroad cars. “They called it the ‘bitch hook’—it was really hard to use.” *2005 Paul Tapley Fall at Muskoka Resorts (North Muskoka, Ontario, Can.) (Nov. 7) “Times Past”: The sleigh wanted to hurtle down the hill, running over the horses. The solution to this was to get off, and apply what was called a “block chain” around the runner, with a hook known as a “bitch hook,” because it hung on so tightly that it wouldn’t let go. Now the horses could pull the sleigh down, rather than have to brake it all the way.

Posted 7 Nov 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

Given the use of the term in logging, French “buche” (= “log") is a far more likely origin than “beche”. Pronunciation’s closer, too.

gerard

by gerard 07 Nov 05, 0641 GMT

I considered that, but I wondered: isn’t another tool more likely an origin than a log? Also, alternate spellings for the term found in OED citations do not include “buche.” The pronunciation of the “ch” in French is problematic, in any case, for either bêche or buche to be the origin of the term. The connection to French is tenuous.

by Grant Barrett 07 Nov 05, 0655 GMT