02262cam a2200349 i 4500 1007013474 TxGeo 20231006120000.0 230717s2023||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2023028683 9780593299579 hbk. 0593299574 hbk. (OCoLC)1354648081 TxGeo rda Nuttall, Jennifer Anne, 1975-, author. Mother tongue : the surprising history of women's words / Jenni Nuttall. First North American edition. [New York, NY] : Viking, [2023] 292 pages ; 22 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references and index. Women's words -- Cors: words for female anatomy -- Flux: menstrual language -- Lust: sex and its terms -- Matrix: the womb's words -- Nurse: the language of care -- Industry: working words -- Ghyrles and hags: words for ages and stages -- Fors: naming male violence -- Custom and tyranny: finding feminism's vocabulary. "So many of the words that we use to chronicle women's lives feel awkward or alien. Medical terms are scrupulously accurate but antiseptic. Slang and obscenities have shock value, yet they perpetuate taboos. Where are the plain, honest words for women's daily lives? Mother Tongue is a historical investigation of feminist language and thought, from the dawn of Old English to the present day. Dr. Jenni Nuttall guides readers through the evolution of words that we have used to describe female bodies, menstruation, women's sexuality, the consequences of male violence, childbirth, women's paid and unpaid work, and gender. Along the way, she challenges our modern language's ability to insightfully articulate women's shared experiences by examining the long-forgotten words once used in English for female sexual and reproductive organs"-- Provided by publisher. 20231019. English language Etymology. Women Terminology. Women Language. Feminism. QS5