Modern English speakers struggle to find sexual terms that aren’t either obscene or scientific, but that wasn’t always the case. In a recent review of Jenni Nuttall’s Mother Tongue, Mary Wellesley connects our linguistic squeamishness to changing ideas about women and sexuality. She joins Tom to discuss the changing language of women’s anatomy, work and lives.

Find further reading on the episode page: lrb.me/gurletalk

Listen to Mary Wellesley and Irina Dumitrescu on medieval humour: lrb.me/millerstale

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