Wordslut

Words are just nifty. And gaining a better understanding of how they're used in language and communication, even more so. It can be a downer (or rage-inducing) to realise where language has created or reinforced oppression/prejudice, which makes me even more grateful for this incisive and funny book; Montell does a great job of opening the conversation, then encouraging a way forward that doesn't have to see the sexist side of English remain as it has been... people and language can change. 
It got me to think a little harder about some common word choices I didn't examine too closely previously, I'm sure it could do at least as much for anyone else who picks it up. 
I think the expansion of the six different forms of the word ‘like' was my favourite ‘new thing I learned'. We're (by which I mean all genders) not actually overusing it, because it's actually meaning and doing different things in different parts of the sentence! 

Since we're here, a note on terminology:
There's a certain inevitability to feminist analysis that refers to historical research resulting in the traditional gender binary coming heavily into play, but overall the book does a great job of being inclusive and clear about the distinctions between gender and sex and the existence of a spectrum for each. 

I'd love to see these discussions re-examined in twenty years.

⚠️mention of sexism, misogyny, homophobia, sexual harrassment, SA