hench
hench – aggettivo
I have worked with over 10,000 young people, at 10 different UK universities, in 7 different countries and still find time to get hench in the gym!
I’m hoping Kev will give me some diet tips and exercises to try out. Looking forward to being slightly less flabby and a little bit hench by June.
We were just playing around at the gym when this hench guy came and we challenged him to a ‘Fitness off’.
Hench è un aggettivo dell’inglese britannico di conio abbastanza recente usato per descrivere un tipo muscoloso, palestrato: un bisteccone, insomma (per quanto, anche se raramente, si può riferire a una donna con caratteristiche simili; la seconda citazione qui sopra è di una donna, appunto). Il significato è analogo a quello di buff, ripped, shredded e jacked, o beefy, brawny e husky, tutti termini che hanno una connotazione positiva.
Da poco ho letto un articolo che evidenziava come il dismorfismo muscolare, una forma particolare di dismorfofobia, o disturbo di dismorfismo corporeo, sia in aumento, soprattutto tra i ragazzi. Chi soffre di questo disturbo si vede insufficientemente muscoloso, a prescindere dall’effettiva massa muscolare posseduta. Certo, tra il voler essere hench o buff o ripped e il soffrire di dismorfismo muscolare ce ne corre, ma la preoccupazione è che tutta una generazione di giovani stia mettendo a serio rischio la propria salute mentale oltre che quella fisica inseguendo un ideale di perfezione irraggiungibile.
Origini del termine
L’origine di hench non è chiara. Il termine è comparso nei primi anni del nostro secolo e potrebbe derivare da henchman, ovvero scagnozzo, ma al contrario di quest’ultimo non ha alcuna connotazione negativa.
Traduzione di Loredana Riu
hench – adjective
I have worked with over 10,000 young people, at 10 different UK universities, in 7 different countries and still find time to get hench in the gym!
I’m hoping Kev will give me some diet tips and exercises to try out. Looking forward to being slightly less flabby and a little bit hench by June.
We were just playing around at the gym when this hench guy came and we challenged him to a ‘Fitness off’.
Hench is a recently-coined adjective used in British English to describe someone who is fit and strong, with well-developed muscles. It is generally but not always used in relation to men (the second quotation above is from a woman). It is similar in meaning to terms like buff, ripped, shredded and jacked, as well as older, more established terms like beefy, brawny and husky. These terms are always used approvingly.
A recent news story reported that a form of body dysmorphia called muscle dysmorphia is on the rise. People suffering from muscle dysmorphia, mainly men, feel that they have to become bigger and more muscular regardless of how big and muscular they are already. Of course it’s a long way from being hench, or buff, or ripped to suffering from body dysmorphia, but experts are worried that a generation of young men raised on films about impossibly fit superheroes may be jeopardizing their mental and physical health by attempting to attain the same level of physical perfection themselves.
Origin
The origins of hench are uncertain. It appeared in the early years of this century and may be derived from the word henchman, meaning a bodyguard who is prepared to use violent methods in the service of their boss. It does not have any of that word’s negative connotations, however.
