The Chicktionary: From A-line to Z-snap, the words every woman should know by Anna Lefler

The Chicktionary: From A-line to Z-snap, the words every woman should know by Anna Lefler

Goodreads: The CHICKtionary is a humorous dictionary of the words and phrases women use—and what they really mean when they use them. The book corrals more than 450 terms, including some you know (uterus) and some you might not (flexting), and defines each from the perspective of a typical contemporary woman—a woman who avoids accidental pageant hair, is frenemies with her robotic vacuum and only occasionally relies on her high-waisted jeans to hold up her strapless bra. 

While The CHICKtionary is obviously comedic, it also pays homage to the unique and ever-evolving way in which women communicate about relationships, life, fashion, self-identity and more. The CHICKtionary fills the niche of being the thinking woman’s book that both celebrates and skewers the realities of womanhood through the lens of the words and phrases used to describe the experience. 

So whether you are dealing with a Residual Girlfriend, diagnose yourself with a bad case of Basset Knees, or need to go on a Briet, you’ll be prepared for all that comes your way. At the very least, this book will serve as a delightful reminder that everyone has a skeleton in her closet—right next to her fat pants.


My take: Best bathroom book EVER! Only drawback is you may never come out of the bathroom. On the upside, you will laugh very, very hard. On the downside, your family will wonder what you are doing in there.  On another note, this book should NOT be kept in the family bookcase.  Particularly if your teenager and her teenager friend go thumbing through your book collection. Because it is a grown up book and contains lexicons that I needed defining for myself and then wondered to myself, Who would DO that? And those I shan't repeat. 

Others I read and think I didn't know that had a name! For instance Just Kidding, Love You, phrase

This is another phrase that pretends to mean the opposite of what it says (see also: I hate you), thus allowing the speaker to "take back" the lousy thing she just said to you. For example, "Chloe, you're such a b witch - just kidding, love you!" In order for the speaker to make this line work, the phrase must be accompanied by an aggressive smile and must immediately follow the insult or, better yet, be welded right onto it, as in "Your hair looks so stupid todayjustkiddingloveyou!

Just a warning, being called a Martha Stewart may seem like a compliment - but it is not.

Lefler has spent a lot of time with women. She knows a lot about women and men. I am enlightened and embarrassed that, not only do I belong to this species, but she nailed in her definitions and had me cringing and laughing at the same time. The mammogram was so sarcastically written, I almost coughed my Oreos through my nose.

About Anna Lefler

Anna Lefler is an award-winning writer and humorist whose work has appeared online at McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Big Jewel, Funny Not Slutty, and My Pheme, among others, while her essays on modern motherhood have been nationally syndicated. She is the author of the comic novelACT BUSY and recently completed her second, DOING TIME IN THE GARDEN OF HAPPINESS.

Anna has performed standup comedy in Los Angeles clubs including the Hollywood Improv, the Comedy Store, Room 5 Lounge, and M Bar. She has presented her humorous essays at Women Who Write in Los Angeles and has appeared in the “Listen to Your Mother” show in the Los Angeles cast of its national program. Anna’s fiction has been presented onstage by WordTheatre Los Angeles.

Anna writes a popular humor blog called Life Just Keeps Getting Weirder, where she ponders what a Jedi smells like and wonders why more men don’t wear urban sport kilts. She has twice been asked to speak on the topic of comedy-writing at BlogHer, the world’s largest conference for women in social media.

She lives in Santa Monica, California with her husband, their son and daughter, and some judgmental dogs.

Connect with Anna on her website and her blog, Life Just Keeps Getting Weirder.