Interesting International Facts: definitions of "thick"

Did you know?

The word "thick" can have multiple meanings. In America we use it as a measurement of mass (he is thick) or a measurement of depth (it is thick).

At a recent lunch meeting someone said, "he is thicker than" so and so. An American said this to an Australian. The Australian looked surprised and almost offended to hear this because the person being referred to was her husband. The husband was sitting next to her and also looked offended. I was rather confused. Being an American I knew exactly what my fellow American was saying. She was referring to thickness as body mass. I was confused because this didn't seem like an insulting thing to say, because the husband was the thinner of the two.

The Australian quickly asked, "what do you mean by thick?" We explained. She then informed us that to Australians, when you call someone thick you are calling them stupid. Really? I find that surprising. How could we both (supposedly) speak the same language (English) and still have such vastly different meanings for the same word?