If I were smart, I’d hang onto this information and sell it only to those who are willing to pay an obscene amount of money. But have I ever claimed to be smart?
No comments, please.
Because I am more concerned about the common good of mankind (and womankind) than I am about becoming wealthy, I’m going to share my little secret. You might want to make sure you have a pen and paper handy, so you can take notes. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Are you ready? Here goes.
Many people feel that the reason men and women don’t communicate well is because they speak different languages. You know, men speak Martian. Women speak Venution. But actually, that’s not the cause of our miscommunications. The reason that men and women don’t understand one another isn’t because we speak different languages. It’s because we use different dictionaries.
Take, for example, the question, “How do you feel?”
Any woman will answer that question with an emotion. Happy. Sad. Frustrated. Peaceful. Content.
A man, on the other hand, will reply, “I feel hungry. Let’s eat.”
When a woman says, “Let’s talk,” she means, “Let’s reveal our innermost thoughts, discuss our loftiest dreams, share our deepest fears.”
When a man says, “Let’s talk,” he means, “What’s for dinner?”
Her definition of entertainment includes anything that requires her to wear her prettiest dress.
His definition of entertainment includes anything that allows him to watch other men clobber each other.
Like I said. Different dictionaries.
It is my belief that these dictionaries are somehow implanted into the male and female brains at conception. Little girls get the amplified, expanded, unabridged variety. Little boys? Well . . . they get the trimline version.
The good news is, if we can learn each others’ definitions, we’ll have a lot less male/female conflict. So, in an effort to test my theory, I have been studying manspeak, and comparing it with womanspeak. And I think I’ve become pretty fluent. Here are just a few examples:
Make-up (female): the stuff you wear on your face, so you’ll look pretty.
Make-up (male): the thing you have to do before she’ll let you kiss her.
Tight (female): an adjective used to describe last year’s clothes.
Tight (male): an adjective used to describe a really small parking space. Seen by most men as a challenge.
Sale (female): An excuse to buy new shoes.
Sale (male): An excuse to buy ten boxes of powdered sugar donuts.
I’m telling you, the more I learn, the more excited I get. I recently shared my excitement with Mark. I went on and on, recalling various disagreements we’ve had in the past, and revealing the why’s and how’s and what-if’s which would prevent such disagreements in the future. I explained the subtle differences in our languages, and how to interpret various words and phrases. He listened intently, and I knew. I knew this was a breakthrough moment in our relationship. I was close to tears, I was so thrilled with the possibilities of our future. No more misunderstandings. No more hurt feelings. No more arguments.
Nearly choked with emotion, I asked him, “Honey, how do you feel about all of this?”
His reply?
“I feel hungry. Wanna stop for a burger?”
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
4 comments:
You hit the nail on the head when you said the guys get the trimline version of the dictionary :) And Mark's response to what you thought might be a breakthrough moment? Classic :)
haha Cheryl! I have to admit, my dear husband is a good sport. He lets me make fun of him for all the world to read, and he still loves me! ;-)
Now that is a great post. And so true isnt it? Now if you could come out with the male dictionary for me I would lvoe to buy one!
Hi, Lilly! I'll get right to work on that. ;-)
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