Emasculate

emas·cu·late (transitive verb)

The word emasculate means to deprive strength, vigor, or spirit: weaken, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary. This word is found in “The Boys Are Not All Right” by Michael Ian Black on the first paragraph when it states, “If you want to emasculate a guy friend, when you’re at a restaurant, ask him everything that he’s going to order, and then when the waitress comes … order for him.” Now understanding the meaning of the word, I now know that what the author was trying to say is that if you want to take a guy’s strength or make him feel weak in a sense, you should ask him what he’s going to order and then order for him when the waitress comes since it’s usually the other way around or he orders for himself.