# Average size torso, really short legs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340 "2012-09-10T22:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/1 "2012-09-10T22:05:15Z")
In the past week or so I’ve met two men who had average-sized and normally proportioned bodies except for remarkably short legs. They almost had the appearance of a little person, but not really. They looked to me like they would have been at least six inches taller, maybe more, if they had legs of a length you would expect from the rest of their bodies. They both happened to be quite fit and athletic, by the way, but I doubt that has any relevance. So is that … a thing? I mean is this a condition, or have I just coincidentally met a couple guys who had unusually short legs? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/2 "2012-09-10T22:22:15Z")
[Make fun of my long torso](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=149262) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/3 "2012-09-10T22:37:52Z")
Long waisted. Surprisingly, there is no wikipedia entry for it. ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/4 "2012-09-10T22:43:09Z")
Coincidentally, I (the OP) am a person of long torso. I could riff on that for a while… But I don’t think y’all are getting the right impression. I’m not talking about someone like me – very long torso on top of normal to short-normal legs. I mean these two guys had \*really \*short legs. Like you see them and don’t think, “Hmm, long waisted.” You see them and think, “Ummm, wow…” I didn’t measure their inseams or anything, but take my word for it, this was more than having a long torso. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/5 "2012-09-10T22:47:18Z")
There were a lot of swimmers like that at the Paralympics. So, yeah, apparently it does happen. You should have seen the upper bodies of those guys and gals… ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/6 "2012-09-11T00:46:19Z")
i recall that in most ordinary people the height difference is in the legs. some difference in torso height but mostly similar between people, it is not in proportion to total height. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/7 "2012-09-11T01:27:13Z")
I am taller than most people when sitting, and of average height when we all stand up. At least, they stand up. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/8 "2012-09-11T02:16:37Z")
My husband (and much of his family) have a hereditary form of rickets known as [X-linked hypophosphatemia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-linked_hypophosphatemia). It results in more or less that appearance: his legs are really short (like an 18" inseam) and his torso is normal. His legs would be curved, but they were surgically straightened when he was 13, which was apparently about as brutal as it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/9 "2012-09-11T02:19:30Z")
I am long waisted. I’m 5’7" tall with a 26" inseam. So this one time I went to meet two business men, a father and son. They were sitting down when I came in. We talked, I could tell they weren’t short as I had to look up a bit (not much, but a bit) to see eye to eye with them. Came time to leave, and they stood up. Daddy was 6’8", and the son must have smoked or did something that stunted his growth, as he was only about 6’5". I felt like I was standing between two redwood trees. These two guys were the two most short waisted tall people I have ever met in my life. I asked, daddy’s inseam was a foot longer than mine, 36" ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/10 "2012-09-11T04:53:55Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > My husband (and much of his family) have a hereditary form of rickets known as [X-linked hypophosphatemia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-linked_hypophosphatemia). It results in more or less that appearance: his legs are really short (like an 18" inseam) and his torso is normal. His legs would be curved, but they were surgically straightened when he was 13, which was apparently about as brutal as it sounds. Do you mean 18 inches or 28 inches? ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/11 "2012-09-11T05:04:33Z")
Wow, I thought I had this problem but not nearly as much as 18", I am 5’7" with a 28 inseam ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/12 "2012-09-11T05:54:09Z")
My husband has what we call a short wheel-base. He’s long waisted, six feet tall, and our inseams are the same. (30") I’m 5’ 3". He’s not freakishly disproportionate, but his calves look “compacted.” Bulgingly strong, really, and has short shins and broad flat feet that make me think of a caveman. His toes are kind of clubbed and all shaped differently; they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. I can just see him planted on the lip of a cliff in front of a cave, ready to ward off saber tooth tigers. We buy him Big/Tall shirts and men’s “short” jeans. (They don’t call it petite.) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/13 "2012-09-11T10:28:47Z")
Many Koreans have inherently long torsos. In international boxing, when the opponent is taller, it’s almost impossible for him to make a low blow. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/14 "2012-09-11T10:41:35Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Do you mean 18 inches or 28 inches? I mean 18 inches. He’s about 5’ tall. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/15 "2012-09-11T11:09:43Z")
I have this problem. I’m 5’11" with a 29" inseam. If my legs were proportionate to the rest of my body I’d be 6’2 or 6’3". ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/16 "2012-09-11T11:21:15Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I have this problem. I’m 5’11" with a 29" inseam. If my legs were proportionate to the rest of my body I’d be 6’2 or 6’3". Same dimensions as me, although most people think I’m over six foot. I don’t realy see it as a problem tbh. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/17 "2012-09-11T20:41:09Z")
I am 5’6" with a 32’ inseam. Or, as I tell people, “My torso is 5 feet tall. My legs are 6 feet tall.” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/18 "2012-09-12T00:21:11Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > I am taller than most people when sitting, and of average height when we all stand up. At least, they stand up. My (younger) brother and I are almost the same height (within a half inch of each other)- but my legs are significantly longer than his. Once he tried to drive my car, and could not reach the pedals - and could not believe that I could. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/19 "2012-09-12T19:48:57Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I am 5’6" with a 32’ inseam. Or, as I tell people, “My torso is 5 feet tall. My legs are 6 feet tall.” I’m 5’4" with a 31-32" inseam, and I’m stealing your line. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340/20 "2012-09-12T20:51:49Z")
Go right ahead. A co-worker’s wife had only seen me sitting down. When I went to their housewarming, I greeted her and went off. Her husband later told me that she asked him “Who is that lady in the purple hat?” She was astonished when he told her who it was, as she always thought I was about 5 feet tall! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-size-torso-really-short-legs/634340.md?page=2)