Re [tied] skag and beotch

>So far as I know, <beotch> is just a quasi-phonetic spelling
>of a variant pronunciation of <bitch>.

Yes, although i think it comes from a drawn-out emphatic rather than
any regional pronunciation.

By the late 60's skag had become an urban African American term for heroin.

>An 11/2002 addition s.v. <scag>:
>
>scag, n.
>
>* derogatory.
>
>a. U.S. (orig. in African-American usage). An
>unattractive woman.

Max