Bitch Wings and Bougainvillea

I am such a sucker for a new and interesting turn of phrase. 

In a recent post on his blog,  my friend Vic, who is cruising in the Bahamas, used the phrase 'bitch wings ' to describe the hands on hips, elbows out stance taken by his lady Gigi and their friend Miss Shirley to bawl out a bunch of  partying rowdies who'd kept the whole marina awake all night.

I'm familiar with the stance and have used it myself. But I'd never heard the phrase and it totally cracked me up.

So I immediately asked Vic if I could use the picture. (The ladies illustrate the stance so perfectly and just look at that glorious bougainvillea! Plus the complete absence of snow!)

I was, moreover, moved to write the term into the work in progress. ( A writer is something like a vacuum cleaner, taking up everything around.)

The scene is in Phillip's point of view. And Gloria, of course,  is Elizabeth's sister.

Now Gloria was on her feet, hands planted on her hips and elbows waggling in that old familiar bitch wings pose his ex-wife had majored in. Bitch wings seemed to work best, he thought, with short, strong-willed women -- the one like little feist dogs. Fuel them up with a pinch of righteous indignation and they could waggle those elbows and stare a big man down in no time flat.