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French word of the day: Mecspliquer

The Local France
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French word of the day: Mecspliquer
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond"

You won't find this one in a French textbook, but feel free to explain it to people.

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Why do I need to know mecspliquer?

Because it's so much cooler than just saying le mansplaining with a French accent.

What does it mean?

Mecspliquer is a fusion of two words, mec (guy) and expliquer (explain).

Like its English equivalent 'mansplaining', mecspliquer refers to the tendency of some men to explain things, often to women, in a superior manner. 

 

Unlike its English sister expression, mecspliquer is also a homonym, which means that it sounds exactly like the more formal French m'expliquer (explain to me).

Mecspliquer means explaining something in a patronising, condescending or paternalistic way. Sometimes a mecsplication (mansplanation) is about a topic of which the man in question has little or no real knowledge.

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Use it like this

Arrête de mecspliquer, mec. - Stop mansplaining, dude.

J'en ai marre de tous ces types qui mecspliquent tout le temps. - I'm sick of all these guys who mansplain all the time.

Tu ne trouves pas que je mecsplique, j'espère ? Bah, si tu dois poser la question.. - You don't think I'm mansplaining, do you? Well, if you have to ask..

 

 

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