There are 20 words men understand that women won't get, and another 20 that are understood by women but not their male couterparts.
That is according to researchers at a university in Belgium.
The study used 220,000 people looking at an online list of vocabulary, and asking whether people knew the words, reports the Mirror.
The study by Marc Brysbaert, director of the Center for Reading Research, analysed the results of the vocab test from Ghent University.
Men were much more likely to recognise these words:
- Howitzer
-
Thermistor
-
Azimuth
-
Femtosecond
-
Milliamp
-
Aileron
-
Kohl
-
Degauss
-
Bouson
-
Checksum
-
Piezoelectricity
-
Gauss
-
Katana
-
S****le
-
Neodymium
-
Yakuza
-
Teraflop
-
Strafe
-
Parsec
-
Bushido
Women were much more likely to recognise these words:
- Peplum
- Tulle
- Chignon
- Bandeau
- Freesia
- Chenille
- Kohl
- Verbena
- Doula
- Ruche
- Espadrille
- Damask
- Jacquard
- Whipstitch
- Boucle
- Taffeta
- Sateen
- Chambray
- Pessary
- Voile
The list has sparked a heated debate on social media.
Jurji Federov tweeted: "As a man I have to say... are those real words women know? I don't know a single one. I do know quite a few of the male words, but not all."
pfftttx4 replied: "What do y'all know "neodymium" for? Like why is that a random word that men know more about?"
Panda Woman said: "Of course they’re real words! How do you not know “verbena”? It’s a plant that smells lemony and is a really common scent; seriously just look at hand soaps in the grocery store and I can almost guarantee you’ll see it."
Petra anis said: "Yep, I know them all. All real. The “female” words. But I know most of the “male” words too. It’s pitting tech and weapons terms against fashion and beauty terms, basically. It really depends more on your life context than your gender, I would argue."
Tessa Barton wrote: "My doula tucked her howitzer into her bandeau bra. She applied milliamps of electricity to my chignon with her jacquard katana causing my piezos to buzz, my servos to actuate my espadrilles, as my thermoresistors began to strafe the sateen at an azimuthal angle in my taffeta peplum top. A femtosecond later the yakuza burst though the verbena brandishing neodynium pessaries."
