[papertyger]

Well hell!

Don't make us drag it out of you!

[wtc911]

To us the word whore is a fairly mildly insulting description of a women with loose morals, or an actual occupation, or somebody who will perform for some perceived gain (as in media whore).

In the ME (both the Arab and Israeli parts) the word is the ultimate insult to any woman. It is almost biblical in the scale of venom attached to it. To call a woman a whore there is to deny her any worth at all, to strip her of any societal protection and to open her to any level of disgrace or humiliation that you choose.