Skinny, thin, slim

yo'ma

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 9:59 am

Do you think any of those words have a negative connotation? And which, if any, do you think is the proper word to use when describing someone’s weight?

Last edited by yo'ma on Thu, Aug 20 2020, 10:00 am; edited 1 time in total

zaq

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 10:22 am

Slim is decidedly positive and often implies a certain elegance, such as a slim fountain pen or slim briefcase. Thin is generally neutral, as in thin-layer chromatography or thin mints, and is also used for non-physical descriptions, such as a thinly-disguised tale. Skinny can be negative as in "who would want to date a skinny toothpick like that?' though in a thin-obsessed society, it is just as often a positive. A "skinny milkshake" would be low in calories. "Skinny" carries with it an implication of extreme thinness that the other two terms do not.

There's also slender, which is very much like slim but a slightly fancier term, and cadaverous which means literally "like a corpse," iow pale and bony-thin.

As to which term to use, well, it's better to avoid describing people's build altogether unless you're composing a missing persons announcement ,G-d forbid, or being questioned by police. But if backed up against a wall, I would use slim if I wanted to be complimentary, thin if I didn't care, skinny if I were feeling spiteful and cadaverous if I were beyond spiteful.

yidisheh mama

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 10:26 am

Slim or slender are good.
Thin is somewhat OK.
Skinny sounds pretty negative and judgy to me. Reminds me of when my grandma would say "fatten her up, she's SKIN and bones.".

ExtraCredit

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 4:09 pm

yo'ma wrote:

Do you think any of those words have a negative connotation? And which, if any, do you think is the proper word to use when describing someone’s weight?

All three have negative connotations. Plump, chubby, fat, and obese have a nicer ring to them.

yo'ma

Fri, Aug 21 2020, 3:57 am

The reason why I asked was because I was listening to my 7th graders esl class and the teacher said this. I didn’t realize it was a thing, but I don’t know why she even pointed it out to them, but I learned something new Smile