Man Cave

I'm subscribed to The Word Spy’s mailing list — they feature new words and phrases used in print (though only those that can be substantiated across multiple sources). And I was amused by their recent entry for the “man cave”:

man cave
n. An area of a house, such as a basement, workshop, or garage, where a man can be alone with his power tools and projects.

Example Citation:

The basement or garage has become such a special place for special man-projects that DIY is even devoting special programming to it: “My Ultimate Workshop,” a one-hour special scheduled for May, looks at tricked-out garages and basements where guys hone their crafts, be it woodworking, car restoration, wine collecting or model-train building.

So how did the man cave make such a transformation? The experts said there are several factors at play: more disposable income, better gadgets on the market for trading up, keeping up with the Joneses and the post-9/11 cocooning factor.

— “Cave dwelling,” Chicago Tribune, March 23, 2004

I can really relate to the idea of a man cave. After all, with two geeks living here, just about our whole apartment is an extended man cave. Just last weekend, I transformed our living room into an impromptu computer assembly station — I built my new PC beside the sliding glass door there so that I could make use of the available light.

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