Women, Men and Language is an essential introduction to the key area of language and gender. It sketches the historical background, summarises recent research and introduces students to the key issues in the field using an unpretentious and clear style.

The book takes the reader from an initial ?men talk like this; women talk like that? approach to a more nuanced idea of women and men performing gender in their everyday interactions. It covers a range of sociolinguistic research, looking at grammatical and phonological features a well as at aspects of conversation such as compliments or swearing, and the growing use of the word ?like? by younger speakers. This updated third edition concludes with a new chapter summarising new developments and assessing possible future trends for the area.