# what does a curvy body look like? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909 "2008-12-05T20:19:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/1 "2008-12-05T20:19:44Z")
If someone you’ve never seen in person describes herself as “curvy” what kind of body type do you picture? Basically, I’m wondering if curvy = overweight to most, or person of any size with an hourglass figure. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/2 "2008-12-05T20:21:57Z")
Depends on context. If it was a self-description on a dating site, I’d assume it was a more flattering synonym for “overweight”. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/3 "2008-12-05T20:24:55Z")
As I would use it (I’m male), it means that there are noticeable curves at hips, waist, chest, and so forth. Think Marilyn Monroe as opposed to Twiggy. That said, there are most certainly women that use it as a synonym for overweight when speaking about themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/4 "2008-12-05T20:25:42Z")
[This should be everything you need to know](http://www.bizbag.com/Misc%20articles/Personal%20Ads%20Translated.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/5 "2008-12-05T20:26:46Z")
Except, it would seem, curvy. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/6 "2008-12-05T20:29:14Z")
[Nigella Lawson](http://www.fanpix.net/picture-gallery/796/154796-nigella-lawson-picture.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/7 "2008-12-05T20:30:42Z")
Plump, big-breasted, wide-hipped: an hourglass figure. I’d try to name some celebrities, but a) I don’t follow celebrities, and b) women with that kind of figure tend to overheat my brain and shut off the cognitive functions. > [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > [Nigella Lawson](http://www.fanpix.net/picture-gallery/796/154796-nigella-lawson-picture.htm). Hel_lo!_ ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/8 "2008-12-05T20:45:32Z")
If I’m feeling optimistic, “curvy” means somebody like Kim Kardashian and her sisters. If pessimistic, more like Rosie O’Donnell. In between, Oprah. Difference being, ratio of concave to convex curves. The problem being that we don’t really have a simple term for “not overweight, not skinny, has hips, thighs and breasts that can be recognized as such from a distance.” ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/9 "2008-12-05T20:45:33Z")
I think it depends on if you’re a man or a woman. Women often use it as an euphemism for fat and men use it to describe women like Nigella Lawson, or, as my Black friends might say, “thick.” ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/10 "2008-12-05T20:46:21Z")
Nigella is totally my ideal woman. Delicious curves. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/11 "2008-12-05T20:50:28Z")
I would use it as a synonym for “having an hourglass figure.” A fat woman could be curvy, as there are many fat women with hourglass figures, and a thin woman could be curvy as well. I think it’s a pretty goofy thing to use it as a euphemism for overweight or fat or whatever you want to call it, and I have actually gotten into Stupid Internet Arguments over use of the term. Of course, this is because of a freaky culture that doesn’t allow you to call yourself or someone else fat unless you’re using it as an insult. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/12 "2008-12-05T20:53:39Z")
Doper twickster ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/13 "2008-12-05T20:55:09Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The problem being that we don’t really have a simple term for “not overweight, not skinny, has hips, thighs and breasts that can be recognized as such from a distance.” I’ve heard the term “thick” used to mean something like that (mostly by and of African-Americans, though). ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/14 "2008-12-05T21:03:24Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > [Nigella Lawson](http://www.fanpix.net/picture-gallery/796/154796-nigella-lawson-picture.htm). That’s what I picture, speaking of which, do you have anymore. Am I the only guy around that’s not attracted to the 12 y/o boy look? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/15 "2008-12-05T21:06:00Z")
Here’s [my ideal](http://lh5.ggpht.com/vampire.mail/RlmXoq-ZhhI/AAAAAAAAALc/LLktXFJrsh4/s640/vida%2520guerra_white.jpg). There are a lot of women who look more or less like that in Tampa (in terms of body shape) with our heavenly influx of people from the Caribbean basin. Three of the moms for my daughter’s soccer team would fit this description. I love Saturdays. A bit more [curvy](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/94/229634732_dee5e82fa5.jpg). Here’s an [interesting photo](http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/04/05/majthreegirls_wideweb__470x393,0.jpg). The one on the right is curvy, the one on the left is skinny, and the one in the middle is a bit pale for my tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/16 "2008-12-05T21:06:12Z")
I’m having difficulty thinking of “thick” as anything but an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/17 "2008-12-05T21:08:05Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’m having difficulty thinking of “thick” as anything but an insult. It’s not, it’s a compliment. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/18 "2008-12-05T21:09:23Z")
It SHOULD mean something like Salma Hayek, Kim Kardassian or the late Anna Nicole Smith. In internet talk just like “cuddly”, “voluptuous”, “full figured”, “a few extra pounds”, etc. It all means “really fat”. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/19 "2008-12-05T21:15:11Z")
I think most people mean slim but with a waist smaller than hips and bust. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909/20 "2008-12-05T21:27:19Z")
To quote one of the famous philosophers of our time: “Little in the middle but she got much back!” \ ETA: I’d never looked at pictures of Nigella until this thread, and I must say she is a lovely looking lady. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-curvy-body-look-like/475909.md?page=2)