Critic, you amuse me. Canadians speak a mixture of English and American (languages according to Mencken)and often call some word or phrase American usage when both come from England or elsewhere in the British Isles. Another communicant is correct when he states bitch and bastard have additional meanings not related to sex or parentage. Consult the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary or Merriam Webster. In the latter, bastard yields "an offensive or disagreeable person." In the former (1987 entries), such usage was still called vulgar but extended to mean something "annoying." I don't have the latest OED but I have heard that the "vulgar" appellation has been removed. Bitch, in newer dictionaries, similarly has all of the meanings attributed in messages above.