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Original poster

Do you know these words?

77 replies

MelaniaFlump · 16/02/2022 18:06

Apparently the list on the right is much better known by men and the list in the left by women. Sounds like bollocks, I thought, but just tested myself and DH and we both knew all of “our” words and only a handful of the others.

Do you know these words?
OP posts:
RussianSpy101 · 16/02/2022 18:07

I know all the words on the right, none on the left.

TheVillageShop · 16/02/2022 18:10

The list on the right is mainly to do with fabric or needlework - tulle, peplum etc. and I knew every one.

The list on the left can't be real, surely. I knew only one of the words - shemale, and I'm not even sure that's a proper word.

Unless, as a female, I can't tell left from right Grin

Barrawarra · 16/02/2022 18:10

Same, only a couple on left for me, I’ll test DH later!

Porfre · 16/02/2022 18:11

A lot of the ones on the left are physics related

Comedycook · 16/02/2022 18:11

I knew all but one on the right
I knew only one on the left

MorganSeventh · 16/02/2022 18:11

Ah, I saw an interesting article discussing this publication will try to dig it out... it comes down to what you mean by 'know'. Is it enough to recognise it as an actual word, or do you need to be able to provide a definition. In general, men said they knew the words if they recognised them, women only said they knew them if they could define them, if I recall correctly.

Imsittinginthekitchensink · 16/02/2022 18:11

That was depressingly correct.

EmpressaurusWitchDoesntBurn · 16/02/2022 18:13

@MorganSeventh

Ah, I saw an interesting article discussing this publication will try to dig it out... it comes down to what you mean by 'know'. Is it enough to recognise it as an actual word, or do you need to be able to provide a definition. In general, men said they knew the words if they recognised them, women only said they knew them if they could define them, if I recall correctly.
Thats a really good point. I recognised most of the words on both sides but only have a vague idea of what some of them mean.
TheVillageShop · 16/02/2022 18:13

@Imsittinginthekitchensink

That was depressingly correct.
No, it wasn't. The OP said the list on the RIGHT was much better known by men. Pedantic, moi? Yes, indeed I am.
SpiderVersed · 16/02/2022 18:14

This was a survey from quite a while back, if I remember correctly. I'd guess probably 2014? Not sure why it's had a sudden resurgence but I've seen it several places,

Respondents were asked to click whether they recognised a word, whether they recognised it and knew what it was, or if they didn't know it. There were lots of made-up words in it too, and those who clicked on those had their scores heavily penalised.

From that survey, this is the list of words with the largest gap between men and women.

I know half the "male" words and all of the "female" ones.

TeenPlusCat · 16/02/2022 18:15

I knew about equal numbers on both. The list on the left is quite sciencey, the right needlework. I wouldn't have known so many on the right if I didn't watch the great british sewing bee.

Original poster
MelaniaFlump · 16/02/2022 18:16

@TheVillageShop Oops, sorry! I meant the other way round. Smile

OP posts:
EishetChayil · 16/02/2022 18:20

Surely the list on the right is better known by women?

TheSongAboutMe · 16/02/2022 18:21

I didn’t know 3 on the ‘female’ list and 6 on the ‘male’ list.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 16/02/2022 18:23

I knew all the male list, and most of female list.

I have a MEng degree though. They are quite technical.

MorganSeventh · 16/02/2022 18:23

This is the link to the actual article in case people are interested.

doi.org/10.3758/s13428-018-1077-9

And this is the vocab test the researchers used, if you want to do it yourself. Takes about 5 minutes

vocabulary.ugent.be/

picklemewalnuts · 16/02/2022 18:24

That's great! I know and can correctly use all the words on the right. The left I can get 8 but not with great confidence.

picklemewalnuts · 16/02/2022 18:24

I am clearly ultra feminine, despite appearances!

OutsideVoice · 16/02/2022 18:26

I have heard 8 on the left and all on the right.

Frlrlrubert · 16/02/2022 18:27

I'm going on 'can you give a rough definition'.

I know 13 on the men's list, 10 on the women's. I do teach science though, and don't have much to do with fabric. (I'm female).

DH knows all but one of the male words and about 1/3 of the female words

I'm not surprise that on average men know more about physics / weapons and women know more about fabric though.

eddiemairswife · 16/02/2022 18:28

I know 10 on the left and all on the right. I did A Level Physics decades ago which helped with the left.

Mundra · 16/02/2022 18:29

I knew all of them, except I do not consider "shemale" a real word! It's a portmanteau, surely?

ldontWanna · 16/02/2022 18:39

I know(or know of) 8 on the male side and no idea what two words are on the female side.

SuperSocks · 16/02/2022 18:40

I recognise nearly all of the right hand list but wouldn't actually be able to define any of them! The left hand list, I think I know 'servo' (is it a robot?) and is 'boson' something to do with sailing? But yeah, no, don't really 'know' any of them. They're none of them words I use!

AColdDuncanGoodhew · 16/02/2022 18:43

I know none on the left and almost all on the right, depressingly correct Grin