Sunday Rest:phathead. Word Not To Use Today.

Sometimes the need to know what a word means is so great that someone will manufacture a derivation for it.

Yes, I know it makes no sense at all, but that's people for you.

Phat is said to stand for Pretty Hot And Tempting.

Phat tends to be used of people rather than food or anything else, and a phathead is usually a term of affection and even approbation.

Well, it is if you like your people extrovert, irresponsible and idiotic it is, anyway.

So, yes: you might as well say fathead and have done with it.

Word Not To Use Today: phathead. A phathead seems usually to be a rather cool fool. Phat was first used as a (wrong) spelling for fat in the 1600s, but wasn't used in its current sense until, probably, the 1970s. Nowadays, too, it's probably a form of fat, but with a street-smart twist.

You can imagine how the modern derivation came about:

Girlfriend: Did you just say I was fat???

Boyfriend: No!

GF: What? I heard you!

BF: No, no, no...not fat, phat! With a PH. As in, er, Pretty Hot And Tempting, you know?

GF: Really??

BF: (Phew!)