Kim Jeong Uk
Mensplain Have you heard of the word 'mensplain?' It's not the men version of menstruation, nor the name of a magazine. It's the word that describes one of men's characteristics that tends to like to explain something to someone all the time, especially to women. The first time I saw the word, I couldn't help but agree with what the word pointed out. I knew that it was a feature that characterizes men. Come to think of it, a lot of men that I know have a tendency to try to explain everything, without caring if the listeners are interested in what they are talking about. I'm naturally a listener rather than a speaker, so sometimes even I get annoyed by that kind of men.
Jul 7, 2015 2:19 PM
Corrections · 9

Mansplain

Have you heard of the word 'mansplain?' It's not the male version of menstruation, nor is it the name of a magazine. It's the word that describes a characteristic of men to want to explain something to someone all the time, especially to women. The first time I saw the word, I couldn't help but agree with the accuracy of the word pointed out. I think that it is a feature that characterizes men. Come to think of it, a lot of men that I know have a tendency to try to explain everything, without caring if the listeners are interested in what they are talking about. I'm naturally a listener rather than a speaker, so sometimes even I get annoyed by that kind of man.

 

Notes: 

 

Mansplaining has a very specific nuance of explaining things in a condescending manner.  It is not just explaining, but specifically explaining things in a way that assumes you are stupid.

 

"It's the word that describes a characteristic of men to want to explain something to someone all the time, especially to women"

 

I would write this sentence: "Mansplaining is the act, characteristic of men, of explaining things that they might not even know very much about, especially to women, in a condescending or patronizing fashion."  - but this sentence has so many comma splices, which is characteristic of my writing style.  

 

Your writing is getting better and better!  At this point, I am going to have to start editing your papers like I would a native speaker's.

July 7, 2015

Mansplain

Have you heard of the word 'mansplain?' It's not the male version of menstruation, nor the name of a magazine. It's the word that describes one of man's characteristics that tends to like tendencies to explain something to someone all the time, especially to women. The first time I saw the word, I couldn't help but agree with what the word pointed out. I knew that it was a feature that characterizes men. Come to think of it, a lot of men that I know have a tendency to try to explain everything, without caring if the listeners are interested in what they are talking about. I'm naturally a listener rather than a speaker, so sometimes even I get annoyed by that kind of man.


The word you are talking about is actually 'mansplain'.

Use the word 'male' to describe the quality of being a man. Similarly, you use 'female' to describe the quality of being a woman.

You need to use the singular form of man, because you are talking about the gender as a whole.

Use characteristic, instead of characteristics. When you make it plural, characteristic is a noun. You are using the word to describe the tendency, so it stays singular as an adjective.

Use 'tendencies' because a tendency is something that someone tends to do.

You are talking about one specific type of man, so the word needs to be singular rather than plural.

July 7, 2015
Yeah right, Noah. I think the term has a point. But of course, you can't generalize it. Because not all men are like that. As for me, it was a good chance to look back my words and behavior.
July 9, 2015
I think there is truth in the term. From my experience, men seem to talk down to people much more often than women. It is like how husbands explain finance to their wife using elementary and often inaccurate metaphors.
July 8, 2015
Thank you for your comments, Brian and Berze. I didn't mean to blame men. Actually, I wanted to hear others' opinion.:)
July 8, 2015
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