Frustration that not all men's emotions end in 'ad'

A Johannesburg man is experiencing a mixture of elation and frustration because the gamut of his emotions don't all consist of single-syllable words ending in 'ad'. Mac Wishaw observes: 'I can sum up most of my emotions with - 'I feel mad, bad, sad or glad. But the outlier is the one for fear. There's absolutely no synonym ending in 'ad'. You come close with 'afraid' and 'scared', but neither quite does it.'

We are in a new era where it's ok for men to be in touch with their emotions. And being men, the range of emotions is actually quite pared down. The plain truth is that there's a growing appreciation in the male community that these five cover all the bases. Although there are many synonyms in English for each of the five, it's far more efficient and time-saving to stick to the 5 that sound almost identical. For one thing, it's easier to remember what they are. This is particularly true in therapy situations where you are paying by the hour so it makes sense to compress as much information about your emotions into five compact, easily understood words.

Jim Fox, a well-known therapist working in Norwood, says: 'In recent years a shorthand has developed in men's therapy in particular. A symbiosis has emerged between man and therapist where rapid access to key emotions is facilitated by MBSG (mad, bad, sad and glad). So far there is no consensus on the fifth letter of this acronym, be it scared or afraid, but everyone knows that it really covers all 5 mainstream male emotions.'

And it's not only in therapy where the five key feelings have real practical value. Says Wishaw: 'Who wants to say to the idiot at the call centre: I feel really infuriated or choleric that you're asking all of these ID questions, how many more answers do you need? You know it's me and I know it's me! It's much easier to just say: you know, you're now making me mad with all these questions. That would get through to anyone. Often the call centre people aren't even English speakers.'

Wishaw's neighbour and golfing buddie, Luke McManus agreed: 'Who wants to say to your wife I feel utterly remorseful or ashamed for the way I shouted at you at breakfast yesterday when you can just own up and admit you're feeling bad about it? Add to that a bunch of chrysanthemums and everyone can move on.'