treat them mean, keep them keen

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

A woman will be more interested in a man if he is unkind to her.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Đàn ông nếu thô lỗ với phụ nữ thì sẽ thu hút họ hơn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Register: informal

Where it’s used: Used American English
Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “treat them mean, keep them keen” mean?

A woman will be more interested in a man if he is unkind to her.

Is “treat them mean, keep them keen” formal or informal?

treat them mean, keep them keen is generally informal.