post off: how annoying is the “man cave”?
In a recent poll, 47% of Americans voted “whatever” as the most annoying word. Sorry, but if the pollsters had called me, I would have cast my vote for “man cave.” It’s technically a phrase, but that just makes it twice as annoying. I was hoping “man cave” lived only in HGTV-land, where happy but deluded first-time house hunters always seem to place a “man cave” on their must-have list. (Isn’t that what the garage is???) But, no. In the past few weeks, I’ve seen it used twice in, of all places, The New York Times. Once by Maureen Dowd in the Op-Ed section, questioning if the Oval Office is becoming the “Oval Man Cave,” and then a few days later in the Home and Garden section. Seriously? What do you think — is a house not a home unless it has a cave? — Sarah L.
Photo of Douglas Wright at Mantiques Modern (yes, seriously) via The New York Times
November 20th, 2009 at 10:37 am
I totally agree. “Man cave” is insulting on so many levels it’s hard to know where to even start.
November 20th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Insulting, yes. But still a clever term for what it really is: an indispensable room for hiding his ugly old high school football trophies and bobble-head dolls. They hate it when we banishing those things to the garage! CDHQ
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:51 am
This is nothing new to me, nor has it been exclusive to HGTV for a long time.
Our company holiday parties are hosted at a manger’s house, and a ‘highlight’ of the experience is always a tour of his pride and joy: the basement man cave.
I’ve been at the company for three years now, and he has always used that term, so it must be at least that long ‘in the wild’.
Personally, I don’t even dislike the concept: comfortable leather furniture, a shrine to massive electonics, maybe a bar or a pool table and some pub-style decor. It’s a room with a very definite ‘purpose’.
But the name really does conjure fred flintsone and tim allen grunting.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:33 pm
We have a man cave at my family home–it’s called the toilet. Luckily its the half bath and not the full bathroom so my mom and I don’t care.
An old friend of a friend used that term to explain why he was planning on painting his newly purchased apartment black. My other friend’s comment was “Hope he enjoys being single.” I think this guy wants one because he’s newly divorced and he trying to regain his “cool”. But why have a man cave when you live alone? I don’t understand.