manspreading

English

WOTD – 10 May 2016

Etymology

A male commuter engaging in manspreading

From man +‎ spreading.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmænˌspɹɛdɪŋ/

Noun

manspreading (uncountable)

1. (informal, derogatory) The practice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport, thus occupying more than one seat.
   • 2014 December 20, Emma G. Fitzsimmons, “A scourge is spreading. M.T.A.’s cure? Dude, close your legs”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     The new ads — aimed at curbing rude behavior like manspreading and wearing large backpacks on crowded trains — are set to go up in the subways next month.

   • 2016, Kelly Starrett, Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World‎^[2], page 190:

     Manspreading creates stability for your pelvis and lower back. You can either position your feet together and let your knees fall to the sides or spread your feet wide.

Quotations

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:manspreading.

Synonyms

• man-sitting

Hypernyms

• seat hogging

Translations

practice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport

• Finnish: äijähaara
• Japanese: マンスプレッディング
• Norwegian:

  Nynorsk: breibeint sitting m

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: мэнспрединг m (mɛnspreding)
• Spanish: despatarre masculino m

Further reading

• manspreading on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• ampersanding