ABSTRACT
There are popular stereotypes of the language of men as opposed to that of women. Like most stereotypes, these have limited validity: current research indicates that the stereotypes assume more differentiation than is actually the case. Still, actual differences do exist, which linguists are only beginning to study systematically. For instance, certain adjectives are sex-linked: a man who uses words like lovely or sweet runs the risk of lowering his masculinity quotient. Men use more complicated constructions, building sentences 'like a set of Chinese boxes', with clauses nesting one within another in patterns of subordination. Coordination is the distinctive feature of women's speech; their sentences are like 'a set of pearls joined together on a string of ands and similar words'. A related roughness in language is found in the greater use of slang among males.
