(Untitled)

[red_frog]

If someone is "athletic", what does that mean in your brain?

Comments

[queensheba]

They're good at sports. They like sports.

[queensheba]

But in the movie "must love dogs," a man insists that in personal ads, if a woman says she is 'athletic,' this is code for "flat-chested."

[meb21]

My first thought is someone who plays organized sports on a regular basis, and has the body type to reflect that.

Of course, I've known people who don't remotely "look" like Athletes, but are athletes in the definition of their sport. A guy who powerlifts would look very different from a girl who runs marathons, but I think both types are "athletic".

[dramama]

If someone is "athletic" I would assume they are reasonably fit, have a natural ability at sports, and enjoy playing sports and/or staying fit.

But there are exceptions.

My husband's friend J, for example, is whizz-bang at every sport he tries. Just has the grace and ability, but he's not fit. I'd still describe him as athletic.

And I have no interest in playing sports nor am I any good at them, but people have described me as athletic simply because I work out. I don't describe me that way, but others have.

So I think it can be used for both a natural ability and a fit body.

[beaq]

That.

[red_frog]

Yeah. I brought this up because I got described as "athletic". That is emphatically not how I think of myself, but in seeing what that word means to some other people I can understand where it came from.

[stevenredux]

It implies a decent level of cardio-vascular fitness.