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 'Full of interesting observations ... Entertaining' PHILIP HENSHER, SPECTATOR 'This superb book teems with historical marvels and their 21st century resonances.' REBECCA WRAGG SYKES, author of Kindred 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. '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

An enlightening linguistic journey through a thousand years of feminist language-and what we can learn from the vivid vocabulary English once had for women's bodies, experiences, and sexuality So many of the words we use to articulate the experiences women share 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 the experiences that women encounter in their 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 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. Nuttall also tells the story of words like womb and breast, whose meanings have changed over time, as well as how anatomical words such as hysteria and hysterical came to have such loaded legacies. Inspired by today's heated debates about words like womxn and menstruators-and also by more personal conversations between her and her teenage daughter-Nuttall describes the profound transformation of the English language. In the process, she unearths some surprisingly progressive thinking that challenges our assumptions about the past-and, in some cases, puts our twenty-first-century society to shame.

The arguments used to justify the deposition of Richard II in 1399 created new forms of political discussion which developed alongside new expectations of kingship itself and which shaped political action and debate for centuries to come. This interdisciplinary study analyses the political language and literature of the early Lancastrian period, particularly the reigns of Henry IV (1399???1413) and Henry V (1413???1422). Lancastrian authors such as Thomas Hoccleve and the authors of the anonymous works Richard the Redeless, Mum and the Sothsegger and Crowned King made creative use of languages and idioms which were in the process of escaping from the control of their royal masters. In a study that has far-reaching implications for both literary and political history, Jenni Nuttall presents a new understanding of how political language functions in the late medieval period.

'Troilus and Criseyde', Geoffrey Chaucer's most substantial completed work, is a long historical romance; its famous tale of love and betrayal in the Trojan War later inspired William Shakespeare. This reader's guide, written specifically for students of medieval literature, provides a scene-by-scene paraphrase and commentary on the whole text. Each section explains matters of meaning, interpretation, plot structure and character development, the role of the first-person narrating voice, Chaucer's use of his source materials and elements of the poem's style. Brief and accessible discussions of key themes and sources (for example the art of love, the holy bond of things, Fortune and Thebes) are provided in separate textboxes. An ideal starting point for studying the text, this book helps students through the initial language barrier and allows readers to enjoy and understand this medieval masterpiece.

The essays collected here provide fresh insight into a range of important topics across the period. They discuss religion (both orthodox, as revealed by the lives of anchoresses living in Norwich, and heretical, as practised by lollards living in Coventry); politics (exploring the motivations of individuals seeking election to parliament, and how the way Cade's Rebellion was recorded by contemporaries affected its subsequent perception); law (whether it may be deduced from manorial court rolls that lawyers were employed by peasants, and an examination of the process of peace-making in feuds on the Scottish border); national, ethnic and political identity in the British Isles; social ranking and chivalry (in particular knighthood in Scotland); and verse (a consideration of the poem Lydgate addressed to Thomas Chaucer, and the occasion of its composition). Contributors: JACKSON W. ARMSTRONG, JACQUELYN FERNHOLTZ, TONY GOODMAN, DAVID GRUMMITT, CAROLE HILL, MAUREEN JURKOWSKI, JENNI NUTTALL, SIMON PAYLING, ANDREA RUDDICK, KATIE STEVENSON, MATTHEW TOMPKINS

'Troilus and Criseyde', Geoffrey Chaucer's most substantial completed work, is a long historical romance; its famous tale of love and betrayal in the Trojan War later inspired William Shakespeare. This reader's guide, written specifically for students of medieval literature, provides a scene-by-scene paraphrase and commentary on the whole text. Each section explains matters of meaning, interpretation, plot structure and character development, the role of the first-person narrating voice, Chaucer's use of his source materials and elements of the poem's style. Brief and accessible discussions of key themes and sources (for example the art of love, the holy bond of things, Fortune and Thebes) are provided in separate textboxes. An ideal starting point for studying the text, this book helps students through the initial language barrier and allows readers to enjoy and understand this medieval masterpiece.

The arguments used to justify the deposition of Richard II in 1399 created new forms of political discussion which developed alongside new expectations of kingship itself and which shaped political action and debate for centuries to come. This interdisciplinary study analyses the political language and literature of the early Lancastrian period, particularly the reigns of Henry IV (1399-1413) and Henry V (1413-22). Lancastrian authors such as Thomas Hoccleve and the authors of the anonymous works Richard the Redeless, Mum and the Sothsegger and Crowned King made creative use of languages and idioms which were in the process of escaping from the control of their royal masters. In a study that has far-reaching implications for both literary and political history, Jenni Nuttall presents a fresh understanding of how political language functions in the late medieval period.

A rich, provocative and entertaining history of women's words - of the language we have, and haven't, had to share our lives. 'Vivid, philosophical, absorbing and urgent, this superb book teems with historical marvels and their 21st century resonances.' Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of Kindred 'Revelatory ... There is a nugget of joy and wisdom on every single page' Victoria Whitworth, historian and author of Daughter of the Wolf 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.