I was looking a word that as it turns out doesn’t exist, but found this in the user submitted words, and had a giggle. Will the whole gender thing ever settle down? This is the kind of vocabulary that can spice up an ordinary conversation. Collect the unusual and idiosyncratic words and expressions, then use them to give characters a distinctive voice.
Another great expression I heard today is a friend described himself as “Chintz-ing on sleep” as in being chintzy or tight with money.
#1: Retrosexual
Definition: a man who adopts a traditional masculine style in dress and manners
Example:
“Think of him as the anti-metrosexual, the opposite of that guy who emerged in the 1990s in all his pedicured, moussed-up, skinny-jeans glory. That man-boy was searching for his inner girl, it was argued. The retrosexual, however, wants to put the man back into manhood.” — Lini S. Kadaba, Philadelphia Inquirer, Apr. 7, 2010
Submitted by: West4th, NY
Editor’s Note:
Retrosexual is a word that has been used in two very different ways.
It sometimes describes an old-fashioned “manly man” – e.g. a beer and football-loving guy who cares little for his appearance.
But it has also been used, as in the example above, to describe someone who self-consciously adopts traditional masculine styles – e.g. old-fashioned manners and clothes typical of the early 1960s (think Mad Men).
