"環肥燕瘦"怎麼用英語表達?

漢語的習慣裏，"胖"有讚美，恭維人的意思，如"祝賀你生了個大胖小子"，"胖呼呼"，甚至給熟悉的人起個綽號叫"胖子"（當然是愛稱）。可見"胖"在漢語中有"健康""生活舒心"的意思。那麼英語裏可以這麼說嗎？

在英語中，關於"胖"，我們首先想到的就是"fat"。但"fat"在英語中是個強烈的貶義詞，是"愚笨"，"遲緩"，"自制力差"的標誌，所以在西方如果說某人"fat"，不僅是對別人的傷害與歧視，也是自身粗魯無教養的表現。

那應該如何恰當而又有禮貌地表達"胖"、"豐滿"呢？下面是一些常見的委婉語，不論是翻譯還是口語都很有用。

1. gain weight 增加體重,例如:

People who drink diet soft drinks don't lose weight. They gain weight, a new study finds.

2. super size person 超大之人,例如:

No more hamburgers, I don't want to be a super size person.

3. heavyset 身子重的,體格粗壯、敦實的,例如:

He was tall and heavyset.

4. nutritionally endowed 營養豐富的,例如:

Though garlic is a nutritionally endowed food, it is only consumed in small amounts.

5. gravitationally challenged 受地球引力挑戰的(增加的體重確實在挑戰地球引力),例如:

That girl is gravitationally challenged.

6. well-built 體格健美的,體型勻稱的,例如:

That girl is well-built.

7. stout 結實的,壯實的,例如:

She is getting too stout for her dresses.

8. big-boned 骨架大的,例如:

I'm not fat, just big-boned.

9. overweight 超重的,例如:

Overweight in a child should not be neglected.

10. chubby 胖呼呼的(多指小孩和女子)例如:

The baby has a chubby face.

11. buxom 形象健康豐滿的,健美的,例如:

A generation ago, fat babies were considered healthy and buxom actresses were popular, but society has since come to worship thinness.

同樣，"瘦"不能說"skinny"，這可是"皮包骨"的意思（時尚界的許多模特正在朝這個方向發展），要形容一個人苗條應該用 "slender"，"slim"，或"delicate"。"減肥"則可以說"lose pounds"或"lose weight"。

總之，"胖"和"瘦"是英美人敏感的話題，"fat "和"skinny"的使用要十分小心，注意迴避。但是有一個例外就是" phat "（妙，好，酷），是"fat "的異體詞，在口語中常常用於讚美美妙的東西，相當於"cool "。例如"The car is really a phat. "