Someone describes you as 'Quite slim' - what does that mean to you?

[FortunateSass]

Genuine question.. would you interpret it as Larger side of Slim? Borderline overweight? Almost Slim?
I've struggled with my body image my entire life, hid behind baggy clothes and loose fitting outfits.
The past few years I finally feel more at peace with my body and have started to wear my fitted clothes.
Today after discussing my lunch choice (salad) my colleague asked why I always eat healthy, I explained I wanted to shift a few pounds to which they said "Why? You're already quite slim?"

The word 'quite' usually means very, or a lot of

Quite large. Very large
Quite slim very slim
Quite tall, very tall
Quite small, very small

( you get the picture)

@soupfiend Thanks for the reply.
I appreciate it's probably a stupid post on my part, but I understood his comment as 'quite' meaning almost

I think of it as the skinnier side of slim, size 8/10

THIS is a woman who is 'quite slim' IMO. Not skinny, but also not curvy.

I would interpret it differently to the other posters and assume they meant almost slim but not quite. However, slim is very subjective as some people consider a size 0 to be slim whilst others will think a size 8 is. I’d put quite slim in the 10/12 bracket.

I'd take that as really slim

They mean you don't need to watch what you eat - you're plenty slim enough. Almost too slim.

I think it means you are slim, but not too thin

If a Brit says it then I’d take it to mean very very slim. See also saying ‘not bad’ when meaning something is absolutely fucking amazing. If it came from an American or a non native English speaker then I might take it more literally i.e. what would be the middle of a healthy BMI.

So if someone described someone else to you as quite tall, what would you think that meant?

Quite noisy?

and 'we agreed to meet at 10 but she was quite late'

What do you think the word quite means in those contexts?

Slimmer than average but not super slim/skinny.

I'd take it to mean, kind of slim (if that makes any sense?!)

To me, I wouldn't hear "quite slim" as being "very slim". I'd hear "average"... i think! Not thin, but not fat either.

Quite is one of those words that has lost it's meaning a bit, a lot of people use it to mean a bit or sort of. Including me, apparently!

Why does it matter? I honestly wouldn't waste time thinking about it

As an aside though your colleague sounds like a bit of a knob- commenting on your choice of lunch then your physique. How about none of his bloody business?!

It means you are slim but not too thin.

You are slim and don't need to lose weight but they don't want to offend you by insinuating you are too slim!

I don't think that obsessing over it will change anything. And starting this thread and taking on board what other strangers are saying is probably not good for you either.

It doesn't matter what he says or what he meant even. Or what we think he meant.

Maybe you should consider counselling about body image if that's an option for you.

“The past few years I finally feel more at peace with my body”

Unfortunately, OP, it doesn’t sound like you have.

@Gnomegarden32 And that's why everybody is different! Not all people struggle with Body image, shamefully I am one of those that do!

I think "quite" has changed a lot in common usage making it very confusing for pretty much everyone!

Quite noisy - above average on the nosiness scale
Quite tall - fairly tall
Quite late - very late

Seeing it written down doesn't make much sense but I think a lot of people would think the same or similar to the above.

@InTheRainOnATrain 👏 So true! And I'm annoyed at myself for even thinking about it but it touched a nerve!

Agreed.

@TheSnowyOwl You think along the same lines as Me, I wouldn't say it meant super slim at all! Average to slighter bigger than average is my understanding.

Quite tall would be around 5’9” (female) as over 6’ to me would be tall.

Hard to quantify noise via text but a school playground is quite noisy but a football stadium is noisy.

I hate bad timekeeping so have a low tolerance is as 10:15 would be quite late and 10:30 would be late.

That's definitely not what it means.