Description

A rich, provocative and entertaining history of women’s words – of the language we have, and haven’t, had to share our lives.

‘Fascinating, intriguing, witty, a gem of a book’ KATE MOSSE

‘Wonderful’ DAILY TELEGRAPH

‘This superb book teems with historical marvels and their 21st century resonances’ REBECCA WRAGG SYKES, author of Kindred

Spinster. Cougar. Carer. Matron. Wife.

So many of the words we use to articulate the experiences women share feel awkward or alien. Medical terms are accurate but antiseptic. Slang often perpetuates stereotypes. Where are the plain, honest words for women’s daily lives?

From the dawn of Old English to the present day, Dr. Jenni Nuttall guides readers through the evolution of the words we have used to describe bodies, menstruation, sexuality, the consequences of male violence, childbirth, paid and unpaid work, and gender.

Along the way, she argues that, paradoxically, as women have made slow progress towards equality, we’ve lost some of the most expressive and eloquent bits of our vocabulary.

Inspired by Nuttall’s deep knowledge of the English language as well as conversations with her teenage daughter, this is a book for anyone who loves language – and for feminists who want to look to the past in order to move forward.

‘Full of interesting observations . . . Entertaining’ PHILIP HENSHER, SPECTATOR

‘One of the wittiest and most insightful books of the year . . . A must-have for any lover of language, history or women’ BUZZ MAGAZINE

‘There is a nugget of joy and wisdom on every single page’ VICTORIA WHITWORTH, historian and author of Daughter of the Wolf

Publisher Review

Fascinating, intriguing, witty, a gem of a book * Kate Mosse * From the womb-wicket to the child-mighty, and roaring maidens to cunning crones, MOTHER TONGUE encompasses a millennium of enthralling English parlance. Incisively scholarly, affectionately humorous (and sometimes quietly furious), Nuttall sifts the archives of centuries and listens to modern echoes, as lost voices emerge, showing how women have long spoken, and been spoken of. Vivid, philosophical, absorbing and urgent, this superb book teems with historical marvels and their 21st century resonances * Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of KINDRED * What a revelatory delight of a book. It is richly scholarly, wry and funny, healthily grounded in women's bodily experiences - they don't change but attitudes towards them do, and we are clearly very mistaken if we think we are getting it right and previous generations were unenlightened. There is a nugget of joy and wisdom on every single page * Victoria Whitworth *