As we US of Americans expand our bodies at an alarming rate, I hear this euphamism more and more. It makes no sense to me. I think of someone who's robust, not fat, when I hear it. To me a gorilla is "heavy set;" an obese person is not. How do you picture a "heavy set" person?

Asa, with expanding waistline

I've heard it used as a euphemism for fat and flabby but if I use it I mean solidly built and muscular.

To me "heavy set" implies a large bone structure: broad shoulders, deep and broad chest, and (especially in the case of a woman) relatively wide hips. A heavy set person can also be obese, but need not be - but no matter how much weight he or she loses, will never be skinny. All else being equal, the heavy set person will weigh more than a person of the same height but more average build.

And of course, "heavy set" or "big boned" is also a euphemism for "overweight".

Cartman is big-boned

Ah...this reminds me of one of our very first threads.

It's one of those kinder ways of saying "fat". I wonder why "set" though?

I like pleasingly plump. Heavy set is fine for a man. However, for a woman I think of heavy set describing a manish, football player type woman, whereas pleasingly plump, to me, describes a woman who is a little overweight, but still cute...and she can always lose the weight. When a woman is heavy set, I think of that as being her body type, and there isn't much she can do about it. Pleasingly plump isn't used for men, right?

Or zaftig. Yiddish for plump, but originally meaning tasty.

I have always preferred zaftig . . . or even just fat. I mean, why not just call me what I am? Luscious works, too.

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Asa, with expanding waistline

Is that related to your marriage? Not having to eat only your own cooking?

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Originally posted by shufitz:

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Asa, with expanding waistline

Is that related to your marriage? Not having to eat only your own cooking?

That's part of it! However, Sunflower harps at me to watch what I eat, so now I don't eat with my eyes closed.

There were a couple excellent ones in that July of 2002 thread (that thread apparently was where CJ first joined us). One doesn't hear embonpoint often, posted there by Arnie. It comes from a French word meaning plump and might be a nice euphemism, if one needs one. Probably only 1 out of 10 people would understand it! The next word similar to zaftig (which I love) is rubenesque, again posted by Arnie. [See, he was smart even back then! ]

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
The next word similar to zaftig (which I love) is rubenesque, again posted by Arnie. [See, he was smart even back then! ]

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
The next word similar to zaftig (which I love) is rubenesque, again posted by Arnie. [See, he was smart even back then! ]

Zaftig .
My late father always used this word to mean juicy, and would often apply it, with a querulous smile, when one of his children was biting into an orange or pear and the juice started to dribble down his chin or even shirt. The online Dictionary gives us:

Yiddish zaftik, juicy, from Middle High German saftec, from saft, juice, from Old High German saf.

So when delightfully used to describe the Full-bosomed or full, shapely figure, it is figuratively. [Pun intended]

"rubenesque"
"rubenesque" is a fine and accurate designation, but why do so many write eponyms (this week's theme from WC) in lower case letters? It is now more frequent to read of parkinson's disease, than of Parkinson's disease. Pity, I think it fails to do credit to the great man, and the same with Ruben and thousands of other sources of eponyms who, in their lifetime would have seenthe initial letter of their names capitalised.
Am I being pedantic? Yes, I', sure.

Pearce,

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why do so many write eponyms ... in lower case letters?

Actually, I believe this is rather a compliment. The less well-known eponyms tend to be written with initial capital letters. As they become more a part of common speech they tend to lose the capital.

I agree with Pearce. I feel that it's more appropriate to commemorate Rubens with a capital "R", though the drift from acknowleged eponym to normal adjective seems to be the norm.