When is a three-letter word a four-letter word?

Public health minister Anne Milton has caused a stir by suggesting that health professionals use the term 'fat' instead of 'obese'. Many people will have some sympathy for the view. Isn't it just a case of calling a spade a spade? Of reversing the tide of insane political correctness?

Well, possibly. But it made me wonder why people find the word 'fat' so insulting in the first place.

It's clearly not just because it's an everyday word and not a medical term. It's all too easy to say the word in a way that sounds insulting. And that's partly down to its origins. 'Fat' has Old English and Germanic roots, something it has in common with some of the more extreme swear words in the English language. The fact that it is a one-syllable word, ending in the hard 't' (known in linguistic circles as a stop consonant), gives it a short, sharp quality. It's just not possible to spit out 'obese' (a Latin-based word) in the same way.

So 'fat' is not just a word. Depending on the context, it's come to be an insult. And even if health professionals don't mean it to insult people by using it, it will be interpreted in that way.