Wednesday, March 5, 2008

mandals in manuary

Here's an interesting article about the rise of the word "man" as a prefix. Some examples:

Mandals: Sandals worn by men

Manimony: Alimony paid to men

Manscaping: Male physical hygiene, collectively

Manny: Male nanny

Manzilian: Brazilian wax for men

Man cans: Male breasts

You get the picture. But it's not just about words, the aforementioned article's author concludes. An excerpt:

Today, in the new metrosexual manscape, it's not hard to see plain old male insecurity as the root of the current slew of words. Michael Adams, an English professor at Indiana University and editor of the linguistics journal American Speech, speculates by e-mail that a rise in man words may coincide with "cultural anxiety over issues like gay marriage and partner benefits, etc., issues that prompt some to identify themselves and others more aggressively."

Do you think "man words" are offensive, cute, annoying...or all of the above?