-splain
1
a combining form extracted from mansplain, and meaning “to explain or comment on something in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner, from the perspective of the group one identifies with,” as in ladysplain; whitesplain:
racism being whitesplained to a person of color.
-splain
Suffix
- slang A suffix combined with a descriptive adjective or noun to create a verb meaning someone who fits that description condescendingly explaining something to someone who does not fit that description (especially, something the listener has more experience of). 2012 December 22, Bunnika, “For reblogging: No crip has to be nice to ableists”, in Cumulative notes for the Zōon Politikon[1], retrieved 2014-04-27:
- So please, don’t ablesplain to me. Especially when you have no idea about the context of what bigotry you’re trying to justify.
2013 January 15, Dan O'Connor, “Dan Callahan Thinsplains Obesity”, in Berman Institute Bioethics Bulletin[2], retrieved 2013-04-28:- You see, thinsplains Callahan, because nothing else seems to be working, we must turn to making obese people feel bad about themselves in order to shed the pounds.
2014 March 14, Katy Waldman, “Princeton Mom's One Saving Grace”, in The XX Factor[3]:- The PM urges 29-year-old Princeton alum O’Connor to decide immediately whether she wants a husband and children, and it sounds a lot like momsplaining to O’Connor that she definitely wants a husband and children.
Etymology
From explain, following the pattern of mansplain