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Aural sex = manual
Local author exposes the language of = love and=20 sex
Lorne Roberts

Does sex = bore you? Does it=20 offend, annoy, or otherwise hold no interest for you?=20

Then maybe Mark Morton=92s latest book isn=92t = for you.=20

However, if you=92re like the other 99.9% of = us, then=20 The Lover=92s Tongue: A Merry Romp Through the = Language of Love=20 and Sex is compulsory bedside reading.

A = thorough but=20 light-hearted study, The Lover=92s Tongue explores the = origins=20 and development of sexual language and shows how that = language=20 reflects the culture it comes from.

Morton = says that=20 the words we use to describe love, sex, and all things = relating to them, be they naughty or nice, didn=92t = just arrive=20 with the proverbial stork.

=93For example,=94 = Morton says,=20 =93in England, people still refer to a male fowl as a = =91cock.=92=20 But in North America, it=92s pretty unusual to hear = that.=20 Because of the sexual nature of the word, it=92s been = replaced=20 here by =91rooster.=92 But the word rooster was = invented just so=20 that North Americans didn=92t have to run around the = barnyard=20 saying =91cock=92 all the time!

=93You grow up = knowing a word=20 and it=82s just a thing,=94 he says. =93But when you = learn the=20 origin of it, it becomes something miraculous almost, = because=20 you realize that it didn=92t have to take that form, = that it=20 evolved.=94

Morton=92s latest work, his third = book,=20 continues a life-long fascination with information = organized=20 in readable units.

=93Growing up,=94 he says, = =93I used to=20 read these encyclopedias from 1913 called The Book of=20 Knowledge. They were this mish-mash of stories, facts, = poems,=20 and pseudo-science. So The Lover=92s Tongue is = organized that=20 way, because I really like that encyclopedic = approach.=94=20

After moving to Winnipeg nearly 10 years ago, = Morton=20 began doing a brief spot on word origins for CBC = Radio=92s=20 Afternoon Show. Blizzard Press, a local publishing = company,=20 approached him about turning the ideas from the show = into a=20 book.

The result was Cupboard Love, a = dictionary of=20 the origins and meanings of cooking terms. That was = followed=20 by The End: Closing Words for the Millennium, = co-authored with=20 Toronto writer Gail Noble.

For his latest = work, Morton=20 began research just over a year ago, and wrote the = entire=20 manuscript in three months while juggling family=20 responsibilities and teaching full time at the = University of=20 Winnipeg.

Asked how the intense process of = writing=20 affected other areas of his life, he just laughs. =
=93Oh=20 yeah, it was great. I stared at a computer screen for = 90=20 days.=94

Despite the fact that his books = don=92t=20 necessarily follow traditional notions of Canadian = literature,=20 Morton says that they definitely spring from being = raised on=20 the prairies.

=93Growing up on a farm in the = flattest=20 part of Saskatchewan, which is the flattest part of = Canada,=20 can give you a feeling like you=92re living on the = surface of=20 the earth in a very artificial way, like you=92re = artificially=20 imposed. When that happens, you start thinking about = the=20 origins of things.=94

The artificial = imposition of words=20 on our cultural landscape is the theme that guides = Morton=92s=20 latest work. Clear, concise, humorous, and easily = readable,=20 The Lover=92s Tongue is sure to provide the next best = thing to a=20 merry romp=20 = itself.

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