| Front | zaftig \ZAHF-tig\ |
|---|---|
| Back | adjective Having a full rounded figure: pleasingly plump. ["Real women have curves," as a 2002 movie title proclaimed. They are pleasingly plump, full-figured, shapely, womanly, curvy, curvaceous, voluptuous, statuesque. They are, in a word, zaftig. "Zaftig" has been juicing up our language since the 1930s (the same decade that gave us Yiddish-derived "futz," "hoo-ha," "nosh," and "schmaltz," not to mention "lox"). It comes from the Yiddish "zaftik," which means "juicy" or "succulent" and which in turn derives from "zaft," meaning "juice" or "sap."] "The generational conflict is set off between the blossoming Ana (America Ferrera), a Mexican-American teenager who has a chance to attend Columbia University on a scholarship, and her mother, Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros), who is determined that Ana follow convention and go to work with her in a Los Angeles sweatshop. Carmen's blithe cruelty comes out of love; she's ashamed of her daughter's zaftig figure and whittles away at Ana before the entire world." - Elvis Mitchell; Full Figured and Ready to Fight; The New York Times; Mar 22, 2002. |
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Daft dahft adjective,-er est senseless stupid foolish insane
Previous card: Locum tenens loh-kuhm noun person filling doctor clergyman
Up to card list: Hard English Vocabulary