# The word "heavy" to mean obese **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2002, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535 "2002-10-09T14:29:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/1 "2002-10-09T14:29:02Z")
On quite a few threads here, and elsewhere, I’ve seen the word “heavy” used as a euphemism for “overweight” or “obese”. Is this purely coincidence, or is this a new trend in the US, meant to avoid giving offence? If the latter, I must complain on the grounds of accuracy (not to mention the grounds of calling a spade a spade and facing up to one’s problems). A 6’5" man who weighs 220lb is “heavier” than a 5’0", 180lb woman. But who has the weight problem? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/2 "2002-10-09T14:38:11Z")
“For one’s height” is supposed to be assumed from context. It’s not new that I’ve noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/3 "2002-10-09T14:38:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by r\_k \* > **is this a new trend in the US, meant to avoid giving offence?** I wouldn’t call it “new” _or_ U.S.-based. Early in his career, British author H.G. Wells wrote a very amusing story called “The Truth About Pyecraft,” in which an obese London clubman uses an ancient Gypsy potion designed to cause “loss of weight.” Needless to say, the character’s delicate sense of semantics leads him horridly astray. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/4 "2002-10-09T14:38:56Z")
Whether anyone has a weight problem or not, using the word “heavier” to compare two people has nothing to do whether one is “heavy” or not. If you had two women both 5’10" and one weighed 120 and one weighed 121, one is “heavier” but that has no relation to whether either of them is “heavy,” as in overweight. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/5 "2002-10-09T14:50:37Z")
I’m not highlighting the use of “loss of weight” etc. That seems fair enough. It’s the use of the word “heavy” itself that jars with me, as an adjective, as in “The group of heavy Americans is suing McBurger Fried Chicken King for $175 trillion, because they claim that the megacorp did not inform them of the dangers of consuming their own body weight in saturated fats daily.” A _heavy_ person could be very tall (but average build) or just especially muscular. What’s wrong with specifying “fat”? ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/6 "2002-10-09T14:59:40Z")
Wasn’t there a song about this? He’s not heavy, that’s my brother. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/7 "2002-10-09T15:54:15Z")
I see it as an attempt to avoid words like “fat” which, though more precise, have a history of being used pejoratively. ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/8 "2002-10-09T16:21:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gary T \* > \*\*I see it as an attempt to avoid words like “fat” which, though more precise, have a history of being used pejoratively. \*\* I am reminded of the scene from _Full Metal Jacket_ in which Sergeant Hartman gently chides “Private Pyle” for his use of this euphemism: **Sergeant Hartman:** Is chow allowed in the barracks, Private Pyle? **Private Pyle:** Sir, no sir. **Sergeant Hartman:** Are you allowed to eat jelly donuts, Private Pyle? **Private Pyle:** Sir, no sir. **Sergeant Hartman:** And why not, Private Pyle? **Private Pyle:** Sir, because I’m too heavy, sir. **Sergeant Hartman:** Because you are a disgusting fat-body, Private Pyle! ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/9 "2002-10-09T16:30:39Z")
Heavy has been around for years-- because you can call your mother heavy, or heavy-set, but if you say she’s fat she’ll be offended. Although I’m Canadian, which may skew your verbal trend tracking. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/10 "2002-10-09T16:51:28Z")
OK, interesting. It doesn’t seem to have crossed the Atlantic, which is why it struck me as sounding odd. But then, crikey, plenty of things us British chaps come out with might sound pretty queer too, what? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/11 "2002-10-09T17:11:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aahala \* > Wasn’t there a song about this? He’s not heavy, that’s my brother. Let’s leave race out of it, shall we? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/12 "2002-10-10T00:10:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by missbunny \* > \*\*Whether anyone has a weight problem or not, using the word “heavier” to compare two people has nothing to do whether one is “heavy” or not. If you had two women both 5’10" and one weighed 120 and one weighed 121, one is “heavier” but that has no relation to whether either of them is “heavy,” as in overweight. \*\* Sounds like they need a sandwhich or two. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/13 "2002-10-10T00:12:10Z")
And I a dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-heavy-to-mean-obese/131535/14 "2002-10-10T04:55:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by r\_k \* > \*\* A 6’5" man who weighs 220lb is “heavier” than a 5’0", 180lb woman. But who has the weight problem? \*\* Ahhh, but what if the woman is a bodybuilder with huge muscles?