Word.ws English Dictionary

treat them mean, keep them keen

treat them mean, keep them keen proverb: a woman will be more interested in a man if he is unkind to her.

Proverb

treat them mean, keep them keen

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

Forms of treat them mean, keep them keen

alternative formtreat 'em mean, keep 'em keen
alternative formtreat 'em mean to keep 'em keen

Questions about treat them mean, keep them keen

What does treat them mean, keep them keen mean?
Treat them mean, keep them keen means a woman will be more interested in a man if he is unkind to her.
What part of speech is treat them mean, keep them keen?
Treat them mean, keep them keen is a proverb.

Words near treat them mean, keep them keen in the dictionary

  1. treat like dirt
  2. treat like garbage
  3. treat like shit
  4. treat like trash
  5. treat of
  6. treat them mean, keep them keen
  7. treat with kid gloves
  8. treat-to-target
  9. treatabilities
  10. treatability
  11. treatable

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: treat them mean, keep them keen (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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