The 24-word gender test
Male and female vocabulary
The Ghent University, Belgium, studies language and their online vocabulary test found that this list of 24 words “should suffice to find out whether a person you are interacting with in digital space is male or female.”
Each word shows the percentage of men and women who know the term and is followed by the Oxford Dictionary definition.
Words known by men
Dreadnought (90% men, 66% women, 24% difference): “a type of battleship introduced in the early 20th century, larger and faster than its predecessors and equipped entirely with large-calibre guns. Named after Britain’s HMS Dreadnought, which was the first to be completed (1906).”
Biped (86% men, 61% women, 25% difference): “an animal that uses two legs for walking.”
Bolshevism (85% men, 60% women, 25% difference): “a member of the majority faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party, which seized power in the October Revolution of 1917.”
Paladin (93% men, 66% women, 27% difference): “any of the twelve peers of Charlemagne’s court, of whom the Count Palatine was the chief.”
Kevlar (93% men, 65% women, 28% difference): “a synthetic fibre of high tensile strength used especially as a reinforcing agent in the manufacture of tyres and other rubber products.”
Scimitar (86% men, 58% women, 28% difference): “a short sword with a curved blade that broadens towards the point, used originally in Eastern countries.”
Claymore (87% men, 58% women, 29% difference): “a broadsword formerly used by Scottish Highlanders, typically double-edged” and “a type of anti-personnel mine”.
Humvee (88% men, 58% women, 30% difference): “a type of four-wheel-drive all-terrain military vehicle.”
Mach (93% men, 63% women, 30% difference): “the ratio of the speed of a body to the speed of sound in the surrounding medium. It is often used with a numeral (as Mach 1, Mach 2, etc.) to indicate the speed of sound, twice the speed of sound, etc.”
Golem (89% men, 56% women, 33% difference): “an automaton or robot.”
Solenoid (87% men, 54% women, 33% difference): “a cylindrical coil of wire acting as a magnet when carrying electric current.”
Codec (88% men, 48% women, 40% difference): “a device or program that compresses data to enable faster transmission and decompresses received data.”
Words known by women
Bodice (71% men, 96% women, 25% difference): “the part of a woman’s dress (excluding the sleeves) which is above the waist.”
Peony (70% men, 96% women, 26% difference): “a herbaceous or shrubby plant of north temperate regions, which has long been cultivated for its showy flowers.”
Flouncing (67% men, 94% women, 27% difference): “go or move in an exaggeratedly impatient or angry manner: he stood up in a fury and flounced out.”
Taupe (66% men, 93% women, 27% difference): “grey with a tinge of brown: a taupe overcoat.”
Wisteria (61% men, 89% women, 28% difference): “a climbing shrub of the pea family, with hanging clusters of fragrant flowers, typically pale bluish-lilac in colour. Native to eastern Asia and North America, ornamental varieties are widely grown on walls and pergolas.”
Progesterone (63% men, 92% women, 29% difference): “a steroid hormone released by the corpus luteum that stimulates the uterus to prepare for pregnancy.”
Decoupage (56% men, 86% women, 30% difference): “the decoration of the surface of an object with paper cut-outs.”
Mascarpone (60% men, 90% women, 30% difference): “a soft, mild Italian cream cheese.”
Flouncy (55% men, 86% women, 31% difference): “a wide ornamental strip of material gathered and sewn to a skirt or dress; a frill.”
Bottlebrush (58% men, 89% women, 31% difference): “a cylindrical brush for cleaning inside bottles.”
Tresses (61% men, 93% women, 32% difference): “a long lock of a woman’s hair: her golden tresses tumbled about her face.”
Taffeta (48% men, 87% women, 39% difference): “a fine lustrous silk or similar synthetic fabric with a crisp texture.”
