SPLAIN

What Does SPLAIN Mean in a Text?

The Quick Answer

SPLAIN means "To Explain" (Especially to Explain Something in a Condescending Manner).

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The term SPLAIN is widely used as a straightforward written and spoken abbreviation of the word "Explain." It is often used as a suffix, which is typically combined with a descriptive adjective or noun to create a verb meaning someone who fits the description of the chosen noun or adjective condescendingly explaining something to someone who almost certainly has more experience of the subject in question. The most well-know example of this use of SPLAIN is Mansplain (a man condescendingly explaining something to a woman). Others include:

• Journo-splain - A journalist condescendingly explaining a complicated issue to a subject matter expert (e.g., a scientist).
• Straight-splain - A straight person explaining LGBT issues to a gay person.
• White-splain - A white person explaining racial issues to a member of an ethnic minority.

The use of SPLAIN in this way has grown to include anyone "evangelizing" over a specific subject, for example:

• Diet-splain - A devotee of a particular diet condescendingly explaining the "scientifically-proven benefits" of their way of eating (especially to a dietitian).
• Fit-splain - A gym or fitness class member condescendingly explaining fitness training (especially to a fitness coach or personal trainer).
• Grammar-splain - A grammar enthusiast condescendingly explaining the intricacies of grammar (especially to a language teacher).

More recently, SPLAIN has also come to be used to refer to someone from the subject group earnestly or condescendingly explaining their issues to another person who is not particularly interested. For example:

• Gay-splain - A gay person condescendingly explaining gay issues.
• Queer-splain - A queer person condescendingly explaining queer issues.
• Trump-splain - A supporter of former president Trump defending his record.

Note: All of these terms may be written with a hyphen. However, the hyphen is usually omitted. Hyphens are used in these lists for clarity.

Image for SPLAIN

When I write SPLAIN, I mean this:

"To Explain (Especially to Explain Something in a Condescending Manner)"

Summary of Key Points

We have summarized the key points in the table below:

SPLAIN
Definition:	To Explain (Especially to Explain Something in a Condescending Manner)
Type:	Word
Guessability:	2: Quite easy to guess
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

Example of SPLAIN Used in a Text

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