This was fine. I love linguistics, so the examples of language usage transforming over time are always interesting to me, but this felt far too casual in tone with an utter lack of supported research to back up Montell’s claims. Indeed, at points it felt like Montell was writing a journal entry with random anecdotes she overheard and wanted to shove into the text of the book.

I also just wasn’t certain of the argument and definitely wasn’t convinced by it. I didn’t feel like I learned something new from this, and I found Montell’s attempts at humor more irritating than anything. This is also how I felt about Montell’s second book, Cultish, which is such a shame because I think she actually chooses fascinating topics and just doesn’t write them to my taste.