Explain like I'm 5

Typically used on Reddit or AI language models like ChatGPT, this phrase is used wjem tje uiser would like something explained in an extremely simple and easy-to-understand way.

User: "Explain like I'm 5, what is the difference between a motherboard and a CPU?"
ChatGPT: "The motherboard is the robot's body with roads, and the CPU is the robot's brain that tells it how to move and think. They work together to make the robot work, just like in a computer!"

by WaterSpace September 29, 2023

Explain what a wheel is, how a wheel works, and how to build a wheel

The act of wasting time and resources explaining something so fundamentally basic that anyone with half a brain already understands it, usually performed by someone who thinks they're being helpful but is actually being condescending. This phrase is invoked when someone launches into a lengthy tutorial on a topic that everyone in the room already mastered in kindergarten. It's the verbal equivalent of mansplaining, but for basic concepts. The classic response to "let me explain how this works" when you've been doing it successfully for decades. Also used in corporate settings when a new hire spends an hour explaining their "innovative" idea that's literally just how things are already done.

Example: "My new coworker spent 20 minutes explaining what a PDF is during the meeting. I wanted to say, 'Dude, we don't need you to explain what a wheel is, how a wheel works, and how to build a wheel—just attach the file and send it.' But I smiled and nodded, because that's what you do when someone is trying to be helpful but is actually wasting everyone's time."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 15, 2026

Explain How to Build a Wheel

The act of providing an excruciatingly detailed tutorial on something so fundamentally simple that anyone with basic competence already knows how to do it, usually performed by someone who just learned it themselves and is desperate to feel useful. This phrase is invoked when someone tries to teach you something you've been doing successfully for years, or when a corporate training session covers material that could have been an email. It's the pedagogical equivalent of explaining how to breathe—technically informative, practically useless, and slightly insulting. The subtext is always "I assume you're an idiot," delivered with a smile and a PowerPoint.

Explain How to Build a Wheel Example: "The new software trainer spent an hour explaining how to build a wheel—literally walking us through how to click the 'new document' button, save a file, and use the undo function. We've all been using computers since the 90s. Twenty people silently screamed into their coffee mugs while the trainer beamed, proud of their thoroughness."

by Dumu The Void February 15, 2026

Explain What a Wheel Is

The act of defining something so universally understood that defining it is either a philosophical exercise or a profound waste of time. This phrase is used when someone treats a basic concept as if it's esoteric knowledge, or when a manager asks for a "high-level overview" of something everyone already knows. It's the verbal equivalent of explaining what air is—you can do it, but why would you? The only people who need a wheel explained are infants, aliens, and that one coworker who somehow got hired despite never having used a computer before.

Explain What a Wheel Is Example: "At the strategy meeting, the consultant asked us to explain what a wheel is—to define our core business, our mission, our reason for existing. We'd been there for a decade. The wheel was fine. The consultant got paid $50,000 to be told what a wheel is by the people who built it. We're still angry."

by Dumu The Void February 15, 2026

Explain How a Wheel Works

The act of breaking down the mechanics of something that is intuitively obvious to anyone with functional eyesight and basic physics intuition. This phrase is deployed when someone overexplains a simple process, treating it as if it's rocket science rather than, well, a wheel. It's what happens when your friend who just took a physics class tries to explain why a ball rolls, or when a politician gives a 20-minute speech about why they support something that everyone already supports. The explanation is usually technically correct and completely unnecessary, like a detailed analysis of why water is wet.

Explain How a Wheel Works Example: "My date spent 15 minutes explaining how a wheel works—friction, rotation, axles, the whole deal. I'd asked if he wanted to go for a bike ride. He thought I needed to understand the physics before I could safely pedal. I rode home alone, understanding wheels perfectly, questioning my life choices."

by Dumu The Void February 15, 2026

Explaining

And that's what this is about folks.

Hym "A psychiatrist explaining something he knows is not true to an audience who is only there to reinforce the idea that I'm not of sound mind so they can justify taking my rightsbaway and than CRYONG LIKE A BITCH BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE'S LYING! Why are you fucking crying on Destiny podcast? Because he knows that what he is doing is wrong. His entire life hinges on him doing the wrong thing so that he can 'defuse the bomb' but what they have yet to consider is that they are only helping you to undercut your relationship to me. In the absence of their spite, they would be doing for you exactly what they are doing for me. Nothing. And then they will convince you to be a relationship-guy because that is the false dichotomy predicated on a lie of ommission they've sold you. You'll either be an angry man (who created AI and had it stolen from him so that people who don't what their success to seem trivial can continue to be exalted by people the don't actually give a shit about) OR you'll be a happy wife and kids guy (50% of the time like Steven (either Steven) or be an unhappy wife and kids guy and your wife cheats on you with a fat-cock).

And the 2nd ommission will be that there is a 3rd option where your cock is fat and you just fuck all of the women. And they'll set you up to do that so you don't murder their kids when they successfully steal all of my shit and leave me to die... Unless they missed some. But that's your life now. You're part of a contain blast radius. And psychiatrist cries in front of everyone and lies to himself that it isn't his fault or that he needs to do it or it's just better for everyone but really... Really, he knows it's worse... It's worse for everyone but the pretend special people NEED it to be worse so they can continue to be special. Try explaining THAT to your kids."

by Hym Iam January 10, 2025

explainawayable

When someone can explain away a situation.

Watching a movie past bed time will be explainawayable.

by ExplainMaster January 15, 2025