I appended a “volume 1” in the title not because I want this to be be a multi-volume blog post, but judging from the ever creeping bar of political correctness, I see this as an inevitability that in the future I will make more comments on the topic. When the day comes I will simply name the next post “volume 2” like movie sequels that nobody asks for, rather than naming this post retrospectively “volume 1” like many short sighted movie makers out there. I am forward thinking that way.
It has come to my attention that the word “fat” has become a dirty word, almost on the level of expletive. And by association, so is the word “weight”. So much so that the Weight Watchers has to rename their organisation “WW”.
I see this as problematic, after all “weight” is a scientific term, which is supposed to be as objective as it gets. Although there is some distinction in the scientific and our colloquial use of the term. Imagine a future where our children are giggling in physics class, as if there is not enough giggling in biology class already. In science, “weight” is the measure of gravitational pull, which is a type of force, thus its SI unit is newton.
Since we can no longer describe someone as fat, we have to come out with alternative words to mean the exact same thing. So for the scientific and objective folks, you may use the following expressions:
“The force is strong with this one.”
“I sense the force is growing within you.”
Those sound a lot more positive aren’t they?
In colloquial use though, “weight” is measured in kilograms in most parts of the world. Technically this is incorrect, in science this is referred to as “mass”. Kilogram is the SI unit of mass. So if the word “weight” has become too improper, I suggest we take the opportunity to correct our use of the term. You may use the following expressions:
“You are massive.”
“You have not gone critical mass, don’t be such a critique on yourself.”
I see this can get somewhat confusing. “Massive” can mean “big”, but in science how much space an object occupies is referred to as “volume”, which is different from mass. But big is still less offensive than fat, for now.
But if those are not positive enough, we might have to resort to Biblical language.
“Your flesh has prospered much.”