As an example, the next time you take your kids or grandkids to the park and push them on the merry-go-round, do an experiment. Push it hard to get it spinning, then ask them to lean their bodies away from the center (which slows the rotation), then ask them to lean their bodies towards the center (which speeds rotation). I did this with my kids to teach them about kinetic energy and rotational inertia.
I understand that, too. Where would the water be, if left loose? The ocean? The atmosphere? In the atmosphere, it would be higher. In the ocean, it would be part of the “hump” that the Moon is dragging on.
I’m not saying I know, and I doubt we are talking about enough mass to make a difference. If the Earth were frozen solid, though, tidal decay of its spin would stop. I envision this as a microscopic example of that.
I’m not a physicist. I’m just an “expert on everything”.