3 ms·
Off topic but what does “tolerably spare made” mean? Is a euphemism for slightly overweight?
by elliekelly 6y ago
Off topic but what does “tolerably spare made” mean? Is a euphemism for slightly overweight?
- neallindsay 6y agoI think it means skinny.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- jazzyjackson 6y agoI like to use etymonline.com to find how a word has been used over time, for "spare" I find "sense of "lacking in substance; lean, gaunt; flimsy, thin; poor," is recorded from 1540" etymonline.com/word/spare
- elliekelly 6y agoThanks! That makes a lot more sense. I was thinking “spare” as in “extra” and I thought it was odd a slave would be overweight.
- billfruit 6y agoSpare also means bare, lean, etc.
- jonnyone 6y agoA search on Google Books for "spare made" gave me this: http://tiny.cc/2ip6tz http://tiny.cc/2ip6tz Which gives us "spare made", "well made", and "well set" as descriptions. A similar "ethnography" (http://tiny.cc/3ip6tz http://tiny.cc/3ip6tz) gives me this: "Although from their wiry and spare conformation of body, the Villees look tall, they are not so in reality." Which I would think implies thin.