Language and the meaning of "Fat"
 

I'm wondering for any of you out there who speak languages other than English... what are the distinctions between someone who is overweight and food fat?

I was thinking about it today. I lived in Austria for a while, and the word for fat (as in fat in food) is 'fett'. But you really wouldn't call someone fett. (And not because you're trying to be polite.) To describe an overweight person you'd use 'dick' which literally means 'thick'. So there is a word for fat you find in foods, and a word for the 'fat' you would use to describe a person.

Is it like this in other languages? Because honestly... would so many people be terrified of fat if it weren't the word we use to describe people who are overweight?

(I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this, but I searched around and couldn't find a thread. :D So I'm asking everyone else.)

I know in French they are different. Fat as in body type is 'gros' (I think that's even worse than being called fat!) and dietary fats are 'grasse' I think.

Valerie

That's kinda funny, because 'gross' is large in German. I only took French for a semester, but it was long enough to realize that it didn't have much in common with German. :D

I know grandma and dad who were very British, used to call fat people "portly". I HATE that word!

Bree,

I never thought about the fact that using the same word for food and people helps to villify the food, but I think you are absolutely right about this. One of the reasons it was probably so easy to convince Americans that fat in food will lead to them being fat is because of the use of the same word for two very different phenomena.

I'm really interested in finding out how the slang term 'fat' for overweight people evolved.

There's also the fact that I had to go look up the word 'fett' in German, because in 9 months living there not one person said it. I'd heard people described as overweight, so I knew that word. But I'd never heard someone talk about the fat content in their food.

Are other cultures nearly as obsessed as we are?

I think we should start a new trend and call heavy people "carby" or "sugary". I like "sugary" it sounds sweet rather than evil! HAHA

Orchid

The southern part of the US is less favorable to large folx as far as "definition" goes. I have heard large people referred to as "Porker", "Porky", "Hogette"...and the ever popular "Lard Ass".

Unfortunate but true. Good news is they only say it to me or around me once. I do not like abuse in any form toward any person. I let folx know when I am displeased. I do displeased very well at my age and temperament.