Love, Sex and Marriage: A Historical Thesaurus

Love, Sex and Marriage: A Historical Thesaurus examines how English speakers have discussed relationships and intimacy across centuries. This linguistic reference work compiles and categorizes vocabulary related to romance, sexuality, and matrimony from Old English through the modern era. Coleman organizes terms chronologically and thematically, tracking the evolution of language around courtship, desire, weddings, and domestic life. The entries include historical context, etymology, and documentation of each word's usage over time. The book serves as both a scholarly resource and a window into changing social attitudes about love and partnership. By tracing the rise and fall of different terms and expressions, it reveals how culture and language have shaped human relationships through history.

There are not enough internet reviews to create a summary of this book. Instead, here is a summary of reviews of Julie Coleman's overall work: Readers appreciate Coleman's detailed research and documentation of slang evolution, particularly in "The Life of Slang." Many note her ability to make linguistic history accessible without oversimplifying complex topics. Reviews highlight her clear writing style and inclusion of real-world examples. Common praise points: - Thorough historical documentation - Engaging presentation of technical material - Practical examples and cultural context Main criticisms: - Academic tone can feel dense for casual readers - Some sections focus heavily on British usage - Repetitive examples in later chapters Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: "The Life of Slang" - 3.8/5 (87 ratings) "A History of Cant and Slang Dictionaries" - 4.1/5 (24 ratings) Amazon: "The Life of Slang" - 4.2/5 (31 reviews) "A History of Cant and Slang Dictionaries" - 4.0/5 (8 reviews) One reader noted: "Coleman strikes a good balance between scholarly rigor and readability" while another mentioned "the British focus limits its usefulness for American readers."

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🔖 The book analyzes over 4,000 terms related to romance and relationships, tracking their usage from the year 1150 to the year 2000 💑 Author Julie Coleman discovered that the word "date" (as in romantic meeting) didn't appear until 1896, originating from American English 📚 The book is part of a larger scholarly project examining the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, which contains over 800,000 meanings 💘 The earliest recorded term for "fall in love" in English was "to catch love," appearing in medieval texts around 1300 📖 The research reveals that terms describing adultery and unfaithfulness have historically outnumbered words for faithful relationships by nearly 3 to 1