This guy has discovered the Victorian word for ‘manspreading’
@VictorianLondon has found amazing evidence that the modern phenomena known as “manspreading” was just as problematic in 1848:
And that it was called “square sitting”
OF SITTING SQUARE
“Sitting square” or “sitting wide” otherwise known as the “roomy dodge”, is an elegant method of sticking out the elbows, and widening the space between the knees, so as to occupy as much room as possible, and make the unfortunate persons who sit next, on each side, wretchedly uncomfortable and close-jammed, if not half suffocated.Reasoning will be lost upon anybody who could do such a thing: the best remedy (next to a dig in the side) is to call the attention of the whole omnibus to the fact.
Here’s how Wikipedia defines manspreading:
Manspreading
Manspreading, or man-sitting, is a neologism used to describe a man sitting in public transport with legs wide apart, thereby covering more than one seat. Both this posture and usage of the term “manspreading” have caused some internet criticism, and debates in the USA, UK, Turkey, and Canada. The term first appeared in public debate when an anti-manspreading campaign was started on the social media website Tumblr in 2013. The Oxford English Dictionary added it as a word in August 2015.
It seems pretty clear they’re talking about the same thing, even if the text doesn’t make explicit reference to men, the picture surely does.
Source: https://twitter.com/VictorianLondon/status/741287921471344640