`  == Was it << coined as a tongue-in-cheek play on ``homosexual``>> ??? ==  I removed the sent  : The word was coined as a tongue-in-cheek play on ``homosexual``. which is unref'd and not followed up in Metrosexual#Evolution of the word.   Even if true, it is unencyclopedic to simply throw it out there with discussion: its only direct tie to ``homosexual`` is -sexual, but it is far more closely tied to ``heterosexual``, which is far more often pronounced ``het'roseksh'al, rhyming with ``metroseksh'al`` perfectly but for a single phoneme. Another etymology, along the lines of  : heterosexual, but (as common with homosexuals) markedly urban and, therefore, more like urban homosexuals in other interesting ways, than like stereotypical heterosexuals so immediately comes to mind that it would be unremarkable for every editor to neglect requesting a reference for it. In fact, coinage per se  a probably brief and unverifiable act by one person  is trivia, insufficiently notable to be mentioned alone when the ``viral`` vigor of such a close rhyme, and any timeliness in the term's prominence, is the real story. • `