In her own prose, Curzan tries hard to downplay any soupçon of the didactic by adopting an up-to-date, friendly cheeriness. For my taste, she goes too far ... I do agree with Curzan about the importance of what she calls “kinder,” more inclusive language and usage that avoids giving offense. To advocate for such sensitivity is a key purpose of her book ... Curzan doesn’t stress strongly enough the consequences of using vulgar, ugly and slovenly English.
