• zaftig •
Pronunciation: zahf-tig or zahf-tik • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: 1. Bosomy. 2. Having a full, rounded figure (usually of a woman), Rubenesque.
Notes: The American prejudice that everything should be bigger and better no longer carries over to the human figure. However, there is a point at which well-distributed plumpishness is attractive and this Good Word speaks to that point. Marilyn Monroe had a zaftig figure, as did Mae West. I'm sure you know many more. While this Good Word must be used sensitively, it provides you with a Germanic alternative to the Romance synonym, Rubenesque—if you have preferences in the geography of our lexical pillage.
In Play: Again, use this word sensitively but don't let it scare you away, "Jessie Noff has a zaftig figure and a profound creative talent, a combination some of her friends can't get their minds around." Of course, we can move off base with this good word, too, so long as its reference is in some sense feminine, "Wendell enjoyed spending the evenings cruising retro-chic chicks along the boulevard in his zaftig 1960 Cadillac."
Word History: Today's word is another contribution from our Jewish communities. It is mellowed version of Yiddish zaftik "juicy, zaftig", from German saftig "juicy", the adjective from Saft "juice". It is a kinsword of English sap. The alphaDictionary Think Tank is still bobbing for an answer to the question of why the English correlate, sappy, bears none of the connotations of its Yiddish cousin.
ZAFTIG
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ZAFTIG
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Always like this word, even when I was young and didn't know what it meant! I think I just like the sound of it.
Was there ever a time when saftig/zaftik had some meaning along the lines of sweet or sweetness? If so perhaps there's a connection between zaftik/saftig and sappy. Doesn't seem like there would be much of a leap between dual meanings of sweet/juicy. Of course (obviously) pure conjecture on my part...
Was there ever a time when saftig/zaftik had some meaning along the lines of sweet or sweetness? If so perhaps there's a connection between zaftik/saftig and sappy. Doesn't seem like there would be much of a leap between dual meanings of sweet/juicy. Of course (obviously) pure conjecture on my part...
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From the Completely Updated The New Joys Of Yiddish by Leo Rosten, Revised by Lawrence Bush:
zaftik[sup]Y[/sup]
zaftig[sup]R[/sup]
Pronounced ZOFF-tik, to rhyme with "soft wick," or ZOFF-tig, to rhyme with "boff wig." From German: "juicy," "luscious."
1. Juicy. "What a zaftik plum!"
2. Provocative, seminal, germinal. "The book is full of zaftik ideas."
3. Plump, buxom, well-rounded (of a female). This is the most frequent American usage.
Zaftik describes in one word what it takes two hands, outlining an hourglass figure, to do.
-----
Two zaftik matrons talking:
"I think women like us should take a greater interest in politics ... Tell me, what do you think of the Common Market?"[sup]*[/sup]
"I still prefer the A & P."
[sup]*[/sup]Predecessor to the European Union
Regards//Larry
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at the last description of zaftig and at the Common Market joke.
I for one can't understand why, as the good Doctor Goodword says,
I for one can't understand why, as the good Doctor Goodword says,
Women "of some size" are always more pleasing to the eye (mine, anyway) than a skinny woman.The American prejudice that everything should be bigger and better no longer carries over to the human figure.
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