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Language Gallery by Sharon Hahn Darlin


Jan 6, 2009

環肥燕瘦 fat, skinny, beautiful regardless

環 (ring) 肥 (fat) 燕 (swallow) 瘦 (slender)

Beauty, according to 環肥燕瘦, comes in all sizes. Whether you look like a butterball or a chopstick, a beauty, apparently, is still beautiful.

The bony bird ("swallow") beauties are traditionally represented by a lady by the name of 趙飛燕 (pictured far right)

The "ring-like" rotund beauties are represented by lady 楊貴妃 (approximated on the left by a non-butterball actress).
***
No doubt, the 21st century favors one type over the other. Quoted from USAToday:

Air India has fired ten of its flight attendants for being "exceptionally overweight," an airline spokesman confirms to Reuters this morning. The Times of London writes "the state-owned carrier handed the staff their papers over Christmas after they failed to slim down to meet company weight restrictions, which are calculated according to height and age... "



(cat image from wall001
which doesn't load sometimes)

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