locker-room
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Relating to or appropriate for a locker room: Describes something that is characteristic of the informal, often all-male, atmosphere of a sports team's changing area, typically involving crude, vulgar, or sexually explicit humor, conversation, or behavior.
Usage
- The adjective "locker-room" is used attributively, meaning it almost always comes directly before a noun to describe it (e.g., , ). It is almost exclusively used in this hyphenated form when functioning as an adjective.
- It carries a connotation of being coarse, boastful, or unrefined, and is often used to excuse or characterize offensive remarks by suggesting they were meant only for a private, male-dominated setting.
Examples
- Adjective:
- The comedian was known for his locker-room jokes, which some found offensive.
- He dismissed the crude comments as just locker-room banter among teammates.
- The film captures the locker-room camaraderie of the championship team.
Advanced Usage
- "Locker-room talk": A fixed phrase referring specifically to the type of vulgar, sexually explicit, or boastful conversation stereotypically associated with men in a locker room.
- The recording revealed a conversation full of offensive locker-room talk.
Variants and Related Words
- Locker room (noun phrase): The actual room containing lockers, especially in a gym, sports facility, or workplace, where people can change clothes and store belongings.
- The team met in the locker room for a pep talk before the game.
Synonyms
- Crude: Lacking refinement or grace; in a natural or raw state.
- Vulgar: Lacking sophistication or good taste; unrefined.
- Bawdy: Humorously coarse and indecent.
Notes on Meaning
- The term often implies a context that is exclusively or predominantly male. While "locker room" as a noun is a neutral location, the hyphenated adjective "locker-room" has developed a specific, and often negative, cultural meaning related to misogynistic or objectifying speech and behavior.
- Its use can be controversial, as it is sometimes employed to normalize or minimize language that others find degrading or harassing.
Adjective
- relating to or appropriate for a locker room
- locker-room humor