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Define "handsome"

Started by Shoulders?-Stomach!, September 13, 2018, 06:35:18 PM

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Shoulders?-Stomach!

Odd word.

This is the definition:

Quote
(of a man) good-looking.
synonyms:   good-looking, nice-looking, attractive, personable, striking, stunning, fine, well-proportioned, well-formed; informalhunky, dishy, hot, gorgeous, drop-dead gorgeous, tasty, fanciable, knockout; informalfit; informalcute; informalspunky; raresightly
"a handsome, dark-haired young man"

But what does that actually mean? And how do you get from 'hand some' to meaning it? There are lots of subjectives and euphemisms there. What is a "handsome man"?

I have been called this by three or four completely mad - or dishonest - tarts* which leads me to believe there isn't a rigourous enough overview of how this word is being used? Oh wait hang on that's a statement not a question.

*Define Tart

bgmnts

Your mum/nan calls you handsome when you're a kid. That's about it as far as my experience goes. J assume handsome mostly applies tk men who are objectively and traditionally good looking; strong jawline, decent body, well kept appearance and haor etc.

Emma Raducanu

There's a man who calls my friend 'mirror man' because obvious to anyone, he is handsome. But really, he's not that vain that the nickname fits.

græskar

I just tend(ed) to view it as the masculine equivalent of pretty in the languages that make this distinction. People wouldn't normally call a man "pretty" in English, instead choosing either "handsome", the bespoke masculine prettiness-signifier, or the gender-neutral term "attractive". The exact same set of words can be found in Polish: "ładna" for a woman, "przystojny" for a man, "atrakcyjny/atrakcyjna" for both. There is no such distinction though in many languages, for example German and Swedish (if I'm not mistaken). I'm tempted to think about this in terms of "toxic masculinity" and how manly men couldn't possibly bear to be called pretty, so culture invented a separate word, but as I say there is no such distinction in some European languages and I can't think of why the Brits and Poles should be more toxically masculine than the Germans and the Swedish. I think it's just a language thing.

Noonling

Quote from: bgmnts on September 13, 2018, 06:40:46 PM
Your mum/nan calls you handsome when you're a kid. That's about it as far as my experience goes. J assume handsome mostly applies tk men who are objectively and traditionally good looking; strong jawline, decent body, well kept appearance and haor etc.


Depressed Beyond Tables

You can make any man look handsome by dressing them well (i.e: a tailored suit).

biggytitbo


Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth


pancreas

'*some' means that the object has a lot of '*', doesn't it?

Flavoursome: lots of flavour
Toothsome: lots of teeth
Handsome: lots of hands

Small Man Big Horse

Something to do with symmetrical faces isn't it? I don't know, bar my mum I've never been called it. I get "cute" from partners, and fuck it, I'll take what I can get.

jobotic

Quote from: Depressed Beyond Tables on September 13, 2018, 07:20:46 PM
You can make any man look handsome by dressing them well (i.e: a tailored suit).


Depressed Beyond Tables

Quote from: jobotic on September 13, 2018, 10:16:28 PM


I'd say that's an ill-fitting suit. And the wrong shade for his pale complexion.

Beagle 2

It's what my wife calls ugly women off the telly.


Spoon of Ploff

Means of horse drawn transportation init?

Jack Shaftoe

Women can be described as handsome as well, although it's a bit of a back-handed compliment, as it suggest rather masculine/rugged good looks. Granny Weatherwax in the Discworld books is described as having 'the sort of looks that get called handsome' (or similar).

Bhazor


samadriel


Cuellar

Quote from: Jack Shaftoe on September 14, 2018, 09:43:53 AM
Women can be described as handsome as well, although it's a bit of a back-handed compliment, as it suggest rather masculine/rugged good looks. Granny Weatherwax in the Discworld books is described as having 'the sort of looks that get called handsome' (or similar).

I remember a grime rap battle from back in the day that contained the line 'bitch, you're so ugly you're handsome' which I thought was nice.

Buelligan

It is as it does, I think you'll find.  And I think there's more than a grain of truth in that.  Handsome is generous, big-hearted, kind, brave, laughing, compassionate, light on its feet and easy to rub along with.

greenman

Quote from: Depressed Beyond Tables on September 13, 2018, 11:16:07 PM
I'd say that's an ill-fitting suit. And the wrong shade for his pale complexion.

Dancing to Girlfriend is Better who he'd have had women drooling.


Jockice

#22
Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on September 13, 2018, 09:57:26 PM
Something to do with symmetrical faces isn't it? I don't know, bar my mum I've never been called it. I get "cute" from partners, and fuck it, I'll take what I can get.

A couple of years ago I went to a gallery launch thing with a mate of mine who is pretty square but also apparently a bit of a looker (as a female I knew said on first meeting him: "He's gorgeous. But he dresses like Alan Partridge.") Anyway, at this event a very drunk woman latched onto him and kept telling him that he had the most symmetrical face she'd ever seen and she was a fashion lecturer and would like to use him as a model. I suspect there are other things she'd have liked to do to him as well.

It was funny at first but she really wouldn't leave him alone and in the end when she went to the toilet he said: "Right, let's go!'' grabbed my wheelchair and legged it. I remembered her name though, and looked her up the next day. She actually is a fashion lecturer at one of the local universities. It could have been his big chance.

As for me, I think I'm hideous. Really. And cute (or sweet. Fucking sweet) is as complimentary as people usually get towards me. Years of being the one left out when people start copping off has left me a very bitter man. I was planning to call my autobiography Nice Bloke But I Wouldn't Shag Him (after an actual quote)  but then I found someone who was quite willing to shag me up to and beyond the usual seven-month cut-off point. She's ruined everything. That was a great title.

Clownbaby

#23
I've always thought with the word "handsome" it doesn't necessarily overlap with "attractive" every time. It's differnt strokes for different folks though. When you read those studies on "what makes a face the most beautiful/handsome" it always goes down the path of symmetry.  The "most handsome" face is always shown as the neatly formed plainly all in proportion face but often you can look at a typically, scientifically handsome face and appreciate that they are good looking but at the same time not be attracted to them at all. Chris Hemsworth is a very handsome man. Do I fancy him? Not at all. But he is a good looking man. It always cracks me up that whole Incel head shape diagram thing further up in thread where they've convinced themselves that women "pick a mate" based on eugenics, when going on about how women pick a mate based on eugenics is probably one of the very things that is putting the women off.

For me anyway, describing someone as "handsome" means I think they're very obviously good looking and nice to look at but doesn't imply any attraction to them. Obviously someone can be handsome AND attractive but handsome doesn't always equal attractive. It always bugs me when someone says "how can you not fancy ______? He's so good looking!" Or "why do you fancy ________? He's so odd looking!"  as if those things are linked

madhair60



Clownbaby

This is my favourite scientific study on the handsomest man:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mBZmB-0GQNc


Jockice

Quote from: Clownbaby on September 14, 2018, 11:15:16 AM
I've always thought with the word "handsome" it doesn't necessarily overlap with "attractive" every time. It's differnt strokes for different folks though. When you read those studies on "what makes a face the most beautiful/handsome" it always goes down the path of symmetry.  The "most handsome" face is always shown as the neatly formed plainly all in proportion face but often you can look at a typically, scientifically handsome face and appreciate that they are good looking but at the same time not be attracted to them at all. Chris Hemsworth is a very handsome man. Do I fancy him? Not at all. But he is a good looking man. It always cracks me up that whole Incel head shape diagram thing further up in thread where they've convinced themselves that women "pick a mate" based on eugenics, when going on about how women pick a mate based on eugenics is probably one of the very things that is putting the women off.

For me anyway, describing someone as "handsome" means I think they're very obviously good looking and nice to look at but doesn't imply any attraction to them. Obviously someone can be handsome AND attractive but handsome doesn't always equal attractive. It always bugs me when someone says "how can you not fancy ______? He's so good looking!" Or "why do you fancy ________? He's so odd looking!"

I have this sort of argument too. Just being good-looking doesn't automatically make you sexy. I've met plenty of sexy people who haven't been particularly good-looking  and plenty of good-looking people who do nowt for me at all. A mate of mine had a female friend at university who was nothing special to look at (short, a bit tubby, frizzy-haired) but she was incredibly sexy. Everyone thought so. Whatever 'it' was, she had it in abundance.

One of my favourite memories was when she came across for a concert in my city. My mate had given her my address and when she arrived she just walked straight through to the living room without knocking the door. This was in the days when I still lived at home and only my dad was in the living room at the time, while I was upstairs.

I got shouted to come down and by the time I had, Andrea had already totally charmed pops. And he wasn't an easily-charmed man. Oh yeah, and she was accompanied by her boyfriend (an Irish Pat Nevin lookalike, who was wearing a kilt) and a very camp black guy who I'd never met before or since.  The thought of them walking into the living room while my dad was watching the news still amuses me to this day.

Clownbaby

^ Agree. I often get it where there's a man or a woman who is obviously put together in a good looking way but there might be something strangely unpleasant (to me anyway) about them despite that. I think generally being put together well is only half the battle to being attractive. There's a lad I know who is very, very handsome but has never had any luck with guys because, as a lot of people who know him say, there's something chilly about him that makes him difficult to connect to.

Bhazor

I'm intrigued by women referred to as handsome. It's totally nondescriptive but then you see a picture of them and its like, yeah she's pretty handsome. Lena Headey and Sigourney Weaver being two examples. Of women I'd like to hump.