Shamelessmack in Thailand and around

In a number of posts in this blog, I use a coding system to describe a person’s physique. It’s a kind of shorthand that I have developed over the years since words, in my opinion, are quite unwieldy and subjective when applied to this purpose. What is “hunk” to one is “pudgy” to another; what is “slim” is emaciated to another.

In case readers wonder what the codes mean, here is an explanation.

Basically, it’s a simple system that refers to two main characteristics: skeletal frame and body mass. A typical code will consist of two or more alphanumerals and look like this: W3R.

The first character indicates the skeletal frame, more specifically, the ratio of shoulder width to height:

Note: When I speak of shoulder width, I mean the distance from one outermost bony point of the shoulder (called the Acromion Process in anatomy) to the other. It does not include the fleshy shoulder. Thus, a fat person has, visually, broader shoulders than a skinny guy, but actually, they may have similar skeletal frames, and in my system, they belong to the same series.

Another point to note: A tall “Q” guy may have broader shoulders, in absolute terms (centimetres or inches), than a short “X” guy, but he is still Q, because the code captures shoulder width relative to height.

The second character (1 to 5) indicates the amount of body mass carried on the frame. Generally, although these terms are highly subjective,

1 = underweight;
2 = slim healthy;
3 = medium;
4 = heavily built or overweight;
5 = obese.

The third character, which becomes necessary only if mass is 3 or higher, refers to the type of mass:

M = mostly lean muscle, therefore with at least some definition;
R = some muscle, softened/rounded with a little fat;
F = mostly fat.

Here are some illustrations, drawn to the similar height and poses to aid comparability. I haven’t bothered to draw the rarer types, so not all the code combinations are shown here. You can click on the graphics for larger versions.

P (pole) and Q (quarter) types:

S (standard) types:

W (wide) series:

X (extra-wide or boxy) series, and specials:

The last three figures are not part of the X series. Instead, they illustrate the times when a fourth character is appended to the code. I do this when there is some striking feature of the person worth noting. Three common fourth-place tags are:

C = unusually horizontal or square shoulders;
V = striking V-shape torso;
B = beer belly.

I’m not consistent about the fourth character. For example, most overweight people have big bellies, but when I make notes of overweight people I have seen, I don’t record it since it is something that is implied once I write “4F” or “5F”. But if I see a beer belly in someone who isn’t fat, I will record it.

My system is applicable only for men aged 18 to about 40. Above 40, age brings its own changes to body proportions and shape. A more elaborate coding system will be needed to capture them.