See how many words you know from each list, and then check your knowledge against my super accurate and definitely not made-up definitions.
Remember when you had to learn a bunch of new, complicated-sounding vocabulary words in high school for the SATs — stuff like abysmal, demur, postulate? Most of the words you learned then probably feel commonplace now, but there was that moment in time when these words made you feel like the English language was vast and unknowable.
If you want to revisit that feeling, good news: a table of words from a study has been going around on Twitter that contains a list of words that men are typically more familiar with than women, and another list of words that women typically know better than men.
Jurij Fedorov tweeted out the study from the July 2018 edition of the journal Behavior Research Methods, which analyzed 61,858 English words.
Personally, I felt very attacked to scan the list of, uh, "women's words" and find that I knew every single one, and to realize that I only knew a handful of those on the "male" side of the table.
There's something to be said here about how we gender certain language by raising and educating men and women differently, and about the kinds of knowledge that are normalized for different genders, blah blah blah — but that's probably not important or relevant, nor (probably) is the fact that all the words mainly familiar to women have to do with fashion, and the male words are largely scientific terms, words related to war or violence, and one (1) slur.
Anyway, as a proud English major in my undergraduate days, I will not take my own ignorance sitting down. Below, I will offer accurate explanations of the words that women tend to know better, and my best guess at the definitions of the words that men tend to know better. Hope this helps.
Words — For Women!Peplum: A little skirt attached to the bottom of a shirt for some reason
Tulle: The stuff ballerinas' tutus are made of
Chignon: The way ballerinas stereotypically wear their hair (i.e. a bun)
Bandeau: A fabric band that can serve to hold hair back, as a strapless bra, and probably some other purposes I, a woman, wouldn't know about
Freesia: A flower
Chenille: What a lot of soft throw blankets are made of
Kohl: A dark substance people used to use as makeup in ye olden days
Verbena: A plant whose scent is often found in tea and soaps
Doula: A midwife
Ruche: Fabric pleated or bunched to create a sort of froofy effect
Froofy: A word I just made up
Espadrille: Shoes whose heel is made of braided dried grass for some reason
Damask: A woven fabric whose pattern can today probably only be found on tablecloths
Jacquard: Patterned fabric created by a Jacquard loom (do not ask me what that is)
Whipstitch: It's a sewing thing
Boucle: A kind of "curled" or "looped" yarn that creates a texture I neither will nor can describe
Taffeta: Like silk, but not
Sateen: Like satin, but not
Chambray: A cotton fabric that's usually light-blue in color, though it's unclear why it can't be other colors
Pessary: A device employed to treat pelvic organ prolapse, but also possibly some sort of fabric
Voile: A delicate, semi-transparent fabric — like tulle, but not
Words — For Men!Howitzer: A kind of musical instrument
Thermistor: A preparation for lobster
Azimuth: Definitely a place
Femtosecond: Time — for women!
Milliamp: One million amps
Aileron: An adjustable flap on the wing of a plane (OK, this one I know)
Servo: A server, in Australia
Degauss: That guy who painted ballerinas a bunch
Boson: A guy with some job on a ship who usually has one or two lines in each of Shakespeare's plays
Checksum: When you're trying to split a bill between a bunch of people after dinner
Piezoelectricity: Electricity, in Italy
Gauss: Like degauss, but not
Katana: A sword for nerds
Shemale: I'm begging men not to use this word
Neodymium: An indie-electro band
Yakuza: "J'accuse!", in Japan
Teraflop: When you're in your flop era for a really long time
Strafe: You can do this in Zelda: Breath of the Wild by holding LZ and going left or right
Parsec: Chopped parsley
Bushido: It's a Samurai thing
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