We men are not the most articulate creatures. We often have entire conversations with each other that consist of grunts, “dudes” and movie quotes. So when it comes to communicating with the highly intelligent and verbal female gender, we often feel like we are Larry the Cable Guy at a poetry reading. So in an effort to help us all communicate better, here are translations of a few phrases guys use that may help ladies understand us better.
1. “Ok.” = “This conversation is over.”
It may mean, “I’ve got it.” or, “I understand.” But it always means, “I’m done talking about this.” Your tendency may be to repeat it to us five more times, but that doesn’t mean we’ll understand more or agree more. It just means we’ll be irritated that the conversation has continued. It’s quite possible we didn’t actually get it, so please, bring it up again later–but give your guy some time to process what was said. We often hear things like an echo after it has reverberated around for a bit.
2. “You look great.” = “You look great.”
Your guy doesn’t always have the words to convey beauty, and he certainly doesn’t have the ability to know exactly what you always need to hear. For instance, you may have wished he’d complimented your hair, but he just gave a generic, “You look great.” Take it. It covers the hair as well. Conversely, when you say, “You look great,” to us–it is a high compliment!
3. “I emptied the dishwasher.” = “I’m trying.”
You may have worked all day, helped the kids with their homework, made dinner and cleaned the kitchen. So the idea of him actually wanting acknowledgment for emptying the dishwasher, or taking out the trash or getting off the couch to help the kids, may seem like the least he can do–and it is. But in his mind, he’s contributing. While you may have spent your entire day thinking of how to help the household, he does not have that mindset. So for him to think about this on his own, do it, then tell you about it means he wants you to know that he is not completely checked out. He recognizes his need to help and he thought of the dishwasher.
Is that enough–no. do we need to do a better job communicating–absolutely. In fact, some of us could start by just saying, “I’m sorry”. But at least this might help decipher a few of our comments. Thank you ladies for putting up with us. I recognize it’s often like raising a monkey, but in the end, we are better together!