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Nobody likes it when a person always tries to one-up you in a condescending manner, pointing out the supposed ‘flaws' in your arguments and trying to explain to you that their point of view is actually the right one, no matter how much experience and expertise you might actually have. And the arrogance, oh the arrogance! If it were a power source, climate change would be a thing of the past.

Twitter users have been posting all about mansplaining, and our Bored Panda team has collected some of the most ridiculous recent cases, as well as some witty remarks on the topic for you to read. As you scroll down, upvote the ones that think have no place in modern society. And if you've got any stories of having been mansplained to, you can share them with all of the other Pandas in the comment section at the very bottom of this list.

Kim Goodwin, the author of 'Designing for the Digital Age' and the creator of this informative flowchart about whether something is or isn't mansplaining, told Bored Panda that the context which usually helps men understand women's perspective when it comes to mansplaining is parenting. "Plenty of men are expert baby-burpers and diaper-wranglers, but lots of women will just assume they’re incompetent. Now imagine that happening in almost every domain of your life—and especially at work," Goodwin said. Read on for her full insights.

Once you're done with this list, have a gander at our earlier articles about the most ridiculous things that've been mansplained to women right over here, here, and here.

Bored Panda was curious to find out whether it's the intent or the way that something's said that's more important. "There may be helpful intent, but the problem is the conscious or unconscious assumption that the -splainee doesn’t know something. People without societal privilege are frequent targets, which is why the behavior gets labeled mansplaining (or sometimes white-splaining, since white women often do this to women of color, too)."

Goodwin added that trying to label the term as being reverse-sexism ignores the reality about life: "Trying to police the term is attempting to deny that communication patterns are influenced by systemic sexism or other pervasive imbalances."

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For those not in the know, mansplaining is a mix of the words ‘man' and ‘explaining' that denotes when a man comments on or explains something to a woman in a ‘condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner.'

Very often, it has everything to do with the explainer in question having little to no clue about the details of the topic and trying to pose as an expert. It's less a comment about gender and more a comment about human beings tending toward overestimating their abilities, wanting to be right, and claiming the spotlight for themselves. However, others disagree and argue that the term is meant to be gendered.

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The term ‘mansplaining' also led to the rise of words such as womansplaining, whitesplaining, rightsplaining, and others. The suffix -splain was added by Dictionary.com in 2013 and it's been an official part of the English language since then. However, its origins are older than that. The verb ‘splain' has been in use for over 200 years and has increasingly come to refer to condescending or verbose explanations.

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Some critics have pointed out the irony that calling the term ‘mansplaining' is sexist in and of itself, biased, dismissive of men, and creates the very same double standards that those using the term claim they'd like to avoid.

While there are tons of examples of mansplaining (or, to be honest, all kinds of -splaining) in the world, there's always the lingering suggestion that all men are somehow inherently flawed. Even author Rebecca Solnit, who is known to have coined the term, seems to think that “it seems to me to go a little heavy on the idea that men are inherently flawed this way, rather than that some men explain things they shouldn't and don't hear things they should.”

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Meghan Daum, writing for the Los Angeles Times, pointed out that the term can be used to silence anyone with a different opinion or useful insights. “To suggest that men are more qualified for the designation than women is not only sexist but almost as tone-deaf as categorizing everything that a man says as mansplaining.”

Finally, if you're not sure whether or not something is or isn't mansplaining or any other kind of -splaining, here's your reminder that Goodwin has created a handy chart. It's a nice roadmap to have to keep conversations civil, instead of letting them devolve into petty arguments with no friendly resolution in sight.

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#24

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Grumble O'Pug
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s the “we do it to men too” crap dies out ffs. When they meet what they perceive as an expert _man_ they back down, but it doesn’t stop them when they meet expert _women_.

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Vicky Z
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it's like the annoying phrase "I told you so" ! well, thanks but it's not helpful!

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Lunar Bicycle
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Now, I’m not a [BLANK], but...”= “I am such an irredeemable [BLANK].”

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#28

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Kristal
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Probably because he thought washing short hair is different from long hair and tried to help? I know I would use too much shampoo the first time I showered if I cut my hair short

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Nomadus Aureus
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A radio talk show about violence against women. Four panellists. Three of them men. Male hosts. One female panellist. Guess who didn't get to say so much as a word?

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#30

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Kitti B.
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I went for a date with a guy once. He said he got an English language exam (intermediate level) and I said I got a higher one and I usually read in English as well. He suddenly took my book away from me and started asking centain English words' meaning. I love dating....

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