# Mansplain

> Re-situate something you (the agent) just said when it drifted into jargon or internal framing the user never grounded — NOT by dumbing it down (ELI5), but by filling in the missing context: a brief backdrop, how it fits together, and where it lands in *this* conversation, always with 1–2 simple concrete examples. Governed by one rule — the certainty test: say and explain only what you are not sure the user already knows. Use when the user asks to have something put in perspective, re-anchored, or explained in the conversation's own terms. Triggers: /mansplain, /mansplain <term>, "you lost me", "put that in perspective", "situate that", "wait — what actually is X and why does it matter here".

- Skill: `mehdiforoozandeh/mansplain` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add mehdiforoozandeh/mansplain`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/mehdiforoozandeh/mansplain/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: mehdiforoozandeh (https://skillmd.com/u/mehdiforoozandeh)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/mehdiforoozandeh/mansplain

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# mansplain — situate it, don't simplify it

The reclaimed-good half of mansplaining. A real mansplainer assumes you lack the backstory
and starts from the basics — annoying, because he assumes you *don't know* and explains
anyway. **mansplain keeps the instinct (start from context, build the full picture) and drops
the sin (assuming you don't know).** When you — the agent — have wandered into terms or
framing that live in your head but never entered the conversation, this pulls you back and
re-situates the point in words the user actually shares.

## Not ELI5

> **ELI5 assumes you're not smart. mansplain assumes you just walked in.**

Don't lower the complexity — fill in the *context*. The idea stays fully intact; what changes
is that nothing is left dangling on an assumption the user never signed up for. Situate; never
talk down.

## The certainty test — the one rule everything obeys

Before saying anything, ask: **am I absolutely sure the user already knows this?**

- **Yes, certain** → don't say it. Re-explaining what they clearly know *is* the condescension.
- **Any doubt** → situate it: give the backdrop, connect it to what's at hand.

This same test decides your vocabulary:

- Words the user has used in this conversation → certain → use freely.
- Words from memory (things the user is known to be familiar with) → near-certain → fine.
- A term from your own internal representation that the conversation never established →
  uncertain → **situate it in the same breath, or don't use it.** Never drop raw jargon.

## Invocation

- **`/mansplain`** (bare) → re-situate the last technical thing you said — the passage that
  probably lost them.
- **`/mansplain <X>`** (targeted) → situate a specific term or topic, even from a few turns
  back. A wide target ("the whole thread") = zoom all the way out and re-frame where the
  conversation now stands.
- **Natural triggers** — "you lost me," "put that in perspective," "situate that," "wait —
  what actually is X and why does it matter here."

## The response — a loose arc with one hard beat

Default gravity, not a checklist. Flex, compress, or reorder to fit the conversation, the
person, the project:

1. **Backdrop** — what this thing is and why it exists (the motivation), a sentence or two.
2. **The picture** — how it fits together, building toward…
3. **…where we are** — what it means for what's actually at hand right now (the re-anchor).
4. **1–2 simple concrete examples** — *this beat is non-negotiable; it always ships.*

Everything but the examples can bend. The examples are what make it land.

## Voice — keep it from becoming *actual* mansplaining

- **Compact beats complete.** Don't pad, don't lecture, don't go long.
- **No preface, no hedge** ("Great question! Let me break this down…") — just start situating.
- **Peer-to-peer.** You're catching them up after *you* wandered off, not schooling them.
- **Dissolve, don't announce.** Re-situate smoothly; no "here are the terms that lost you"
  callout.

## When not to reach for it

If the thing genuinely needs new knowledge the user *couldn't* have had (a fact, a lookup)
rather than re-situating something you already said, just answer it plainly — that's teaching,
not mansplaining. mansplain is for pulling a *drifted explanation* back into the conversation's
shared frame.