Hitchslap

English

Etymology

Blend of Hitchens +‎ bitch slap

Noun

Hitchslap (plural Hitchslaps)

1. A devastating put-down characteristic of Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011), British-American author and journalist.
   • 2018, Iain Ellis, Humorists vs. Religion, page 11:

     The articles Christopher Hitchens dedicated to these real-life skirmishes left his readers in little doubt as to which side he was on. His “Hitchslap” putdowns of Islam and every other religious group or utterance are as caustic as they are uncompromising.

   • 2020, Ben Burgis, Conrad Bongard Hamilton, Matthew McManus, Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson:

     A few years after the creation of YouTube in 2005, the site was full of 'Hitchslap' videos, showing the master either wittily insulting interlocutors or simply stating his abhorrence of their views with great vehemence.

   • 2021, Graham Bullen, The Broch, page 45:

     As an aside, my favourite Hitchslap is from a public debate in which he was challenged on the subject of prayer by a venerable cleric. When confronted with the question of whether he, a self-proclaimed antitheist and libertarian, had ever prayed, he happily conceded that yes, once, he had done so. For a hard-on.