To think that this was rude

[bonnyisfat]

Today I was wearing a tunic and leggings and was standing waiting for a bus when a lady stood behind me and loudly said 'OOH look at them bonny legs'

Would you have wanted to tell her to shut up? So embarrassing and rude.

She can wear what the hell she wants. There are no Leggings police.

Yep. Bonny can mean pretty or chubby where I am.

She was rude but probably didn't mean to hurt your feelings? Unless she was in her twenties?

Bonny doesn't mean fat, anymore than "you look well" means "you look fat".
Sometimes there really isn't an agenda, and words just mean what they mean

It certainly means plump, if not actually fat, where I'm from.

Don't think she intended it insultingly. It was just like no filter on the gob thing.

Bonny means fat for me too - though more chubby and half affectionately rather than straight out fat. I'm also East mids
But it depends where the lady was from perhaps she thought she was being nice or that perhaps she was thinking - nice to see a pair of proper Shapely legs rather than 2 twigs and used the term bonny??
Don't worry op I'm sure your legs are fine

Yeah it's like a plump thing here. So bonny baby would be nice - squishy cuddly sort of connotations - but bonny legs?!

Actually though I'd rather random people didn't comment on my legs at all!

I would have kissed her if she said it to me as I have elephant fat legs.

Here, have my grip....

Yeah I have elephant fat legs Newto.

Just didn't really need that pointing out.

My grandparents' generation oop North would have still meant bonny to be a compliment even if they did mean pudgy or chunky by it.

Pudgy, chunky, solid are all thought of as healthy types of bodies. My grandad's most used compliment was "gust o wind wunt blow 'er owwa ".....

YANBU. People you don't know shouldn't be commenting on your appearance in a negative way. Who thinks insulting someone is a good conversation starter?

Bonny means fat. Sorry op. I would have found this embarrassing. Plus I think personal appearance comments are usually rude anyway.

Oh me too, and don't worry I know I'm fat, I just don't want it commenting on!

Relieved we've moved on from everyone insisting 'she meant pretty legs/she meant her friend Bonny' though!

People are saying "it means fat" and "it doesn't mean fat". Both are equally right/wrong overall, but the meaning varies in different parts of the country. So it's not really helpful to say "it means X" as an absolute.

We need a map showing exact fat/non fat boundary lines.

Regardless of whether she meant fat/pretty, it is kind of rude to pass remarks on such a specific area of someone's anatomy: it's not the same, for example, 'such a pretty face'.

she shouldn't have said anything at all
who wants random strangers commenting on their body parts?!

Yanbu. Bonny means fat in my region. It's like chubby.

Bonny means chubby in the town next to mine.

It means pretty in my town.

Is that official, ENorma? . How does everyone know?

Bonny means attractive or pretty where I come from. I was called a 'bonny lass' once and I was a skinny wee thing.

Now I know it means chubby in some places I'll be sure not to use it as a compliment. Could be awkward!

How did she know you were on your feet all day?

Have googled and all the results say it means attractive, pretty, good looking or even lively but no mention of fat. Who the heck started that off? They were wrong I tell ya.

To be fair, you would 'need em on your feet all day'. Otherwise your feet wouldn't be attached to anything and you'd fall over.

I know 'bonny' to mean fat, too. I know that's not only what it means, but I haven't heard it used to meant 'pretty' so much, maybe because I'm not in Scotland? But it falls in with "X looks well", they're two phrases my older relatives use rather pointedly to mean that someone looks fat.

I take bonny as chubby too OP, I would be cross too and would have felt like replying with something like, oh what an 'interesting' face you have got, so full of 'character'.

I've heard of thick thighs being a compliment. Bonny meaning pretty is used in the North of England both East and West, Scotland and Ireland as far as I know. Not risking ever saying it anywhere else now.

Yeah, I'm in the Midlands and bonny means chubby or plump here