Man- as a Prefix
Terms like man age, meaning the age at which a boy becomes a man, have been around since the Middle Ages. But 2011 offered a playground for man terms. Mankini, referring to "a brief one-piece swimsuit for men, with a T-back," was added to the Oxford Modern English Dictionary this year — and has appeared in almost twice as many news stories in 2011 as it did in 2010. This same Oxford dictionary had already made room for manscaping, meaning "the removal or trimming of hair on a man's body for cosmetic purposes," and manbag — both of which have also seen increases in media use since last year. Fashion gurus have noted the trends of manties and mantyhose. And words like man-child, though dating to the 1400s, have enjoyed renewed attention. Some things, after all, really don't ever change.