8

I'm writing my own version of a Salvadoran legend in English. However, I'm facing a challenge to express in a politically correct way that a woman/spirit has big breasts.

This is a picture of the woman/spirit I'm referring too:

siguanaba

I had a conversation with a native speaker from the UK and she recommended to say: "She has beautiful breasts", but I don't necessarily agree. For her, if I said that, she would imply that the spirit has big breasts too. As a non-native English speaker, I would never imply it.

It's important to highlight that in a tiny part of the story (not the most relevant or the core message), I described her previous appearance before she was cursed by Tlaloc, where she was still beautiful and had big breasts (not my words, the words from my grandma, mother, father, teachers, etc.)

I'm looking for a politely/politically correct way of saying this because, in Spanish, this is not a major constrain. I could easily say: "La Siguanaba tiene grandes tetas" that in English would be: "The Siguanaba has big tits" and rarely anyone would overreact, not even my parents who told me this story when I was a kid.

I want to highlight that my main purpose is not offending anyone, especially women. That's why I'm asking this question because I want to write a story that the general audience won't feel offended. However, I don't want it loses its originality and origins since this is an ancient story, over 200 years. I'm aware this is an extremely sensitive topic in our societies and I'm taking a risk asking this question here.

Thanks for your advice.

P.S.:

Clarifying certain points about the conversation with the native speaker, the question, and the picture.

  • The picture could be considered an ancient one. It shouldn't be considered ugly because our current standards define it as ugly.
  • Part of the story relates when she was considered an alluring woman (there was a short description of her, not relevant). A certain god cursed her because she was vain and an irresponsible mother. However, her final state is like in the picture. In both cases, her breasts were large/big before and after the transformation. This is unrelated to her curse. The curse forces her to live in the rivers, scaring irresponsible men, and she presents them as a beautiful woman (often with large/big breasts).
  • Additionally, I would like to find a neutral term. We have more than one story with women/spirits with big/large breasts and it's extremely challenging to find appropriate words. As I said before, in Spanish, this is not a major constrain, but in English, this is a sensitive topic and I'm looking for a proper solution.
0

9 Answers 9

13

The words that you would use must express as closely as possible the intended meaning of the original. So, perhaps, in case you have not done this already, it makes sense to write down the story in Spanish, and think through, very carefully, what meaning each word and phrase need to convey. If you use, in Spanish, 'grandes tetas', it may make sense to say 'large breasts', in English, directly. ('Tits' may come across as uncouth. So, for instance, if the description of the lady is intended to be given through a vulgar remark, then you may consider using vulgar language. But it seems this is not your intended meaning.) If you use an expression that refers to 'grandes tetas' - 'large breasts' indirectly (well-endowed, for instance, as suggested in one of the other answers), this may alter the intended meaning or character of the story. You need to evaluate whether the story in Spanish speaks directly or obliquely, and aim for the same effect in English. More generally, try to understand the artistic style of the original and re-create it in English.

In addition to the words already proposed in the other answers ('well-endowed', 'bust'), there are also 'bosom', 'bosoms', but each of these introduces a slight difference in meaning. So, again, the choice would depend on the intended meaning in Spanish.

See this recent interview with Ann Goldstein, Elena Ferrante's translator. This is translation from Italian into English. Ms. Goldstein discusses three cases that proved a challenge for her: The Hardest Elena Ferrante Lines I’ve Translated

Note the third case, in particular. Ferrante's Italian original reads 'grosse mammelle', which in Italian does mean 'large breasts', and which Goldstein translated directly as 'large breasts'. In the circumstances of Ferrante's story, such direct rendering was entirely appropriate. This is an illustration that simple direct translation is a viable path. (Incidentally, only the words grosse mammelle/large breasts are relevant here; the rest of Goldstein's translation of that sentence can be questioned, however those details are beside the point as applied to the Spanish story.)

Ann Goldstein's translation was published on the 1st of September; it has been widely reviewed (here is an article in NYT; no critic felt that the use of 'large breasts' by the translator was in any way offensive in an of itself. So, the phrase can be used if it carries the meaning conveyed in Spanish.

P.S. Perhaps, 'dugs' found via Google in one of the other answers may require further investigation. The OED seems to think that the word has evolved to be used as contemptuous. If at the time when the story was taking place 'dugs' were free from vulgar connotations but have acquired such a connotation now, it may still be inappropriate to use the word, unless one writes the whole story in an archaic language and makes sure that any vulgar connotations are absent.

dug, n.1

Pronunciation: Brit. pronunciation/dʌɡ/ , U.S. pronunciation/dəɡ/ Etymology: Not known before 16th cent.: origin obscure. Perhaps radically connected with Swedish

a. The pap or udder of female mammalia; also the teat or nipple; usually in reference to suckling. As applied to a woman's breast, now contemptuous.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 280/1
Tete, pappe, or dugge, a womans brest. 1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis i. 14 Her dug with platted gould rybband girded about her.

1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Fiij Like a milch Doe, whose swelling dugs do ake.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 671 The number of young pigges..I find to be so many as the Sow hath dugges for. a1628 J. Preston New Covenant

(1630) 477 The promises are full of comfort as a dugge is full of milke. 1713 W. Derham Physico-theol. iv. xv. 256 With Duggs and Nipples placed in the most convenient part of the Body of each Animal.

1878 H. M. Stanley Through Dark Continent II. iii. 75 The enormous dugs which hung down from the bosoms of the women.

Merriam-Webster also appears to suggest that it is vulgar when referred to a woman: Dug in MW

However, both 'sagging' and 'pendulous', suggested in the other answers here, may be suitable, if this is what the Spanish story says.

P.P.S. Some comments after clarifications were added to the question:

It may make sense to use different words/adjectives when the story describes her appearance in her spirit form and when she is presented in the alluring human form, to seduce 'irresponsible' men. The story probably does both. For the desciption of the spirit form, u could use either sagging or pendulous (they have slightly different meanings), or something else; and a different word for breasts - this would depend on the precise nature of her spirit form (in some versions of the story on Wikipedia the spirit form appears to be something close to an animal). If we were looking at the picture while reading the story in Spanish, we may well see the picture in a different light and use different words to describe the spirit form in English. For the description of the human form, if the story highlights the physical beauty and/or sexual attractiveness, it may make sense to say so directly. It seems, the contrast between the two forms may be key. A boader point would be that it is almost impossible to evaluate what the right word is unless we have the Spanish original. We may look at the picture and agree that it is 'sagging breasts', but if we read the Spanish story we may realise that it is 'large taut elongated protrusions, reaching her waist, rested on her torso...' or something else entirely.

P. P. P. S. Further on 'Dugs':

Please note that the word was found and proposed by @David; @Mark Morgan Lloyd recommended an interesting literary source; further helpful observations - from @Fattie.

In light of the discussion around the word (see comments here and @David's answer), I will add some literary examples, to the OED's list above, in case there is something that may help with the Spanish story. The literary usage seems to support the OED's and MW's notes on how the word may have evolved with respect to women. However, as discussed, we do not know enough about the spirit form, and so even though it makes sense to be careful about the word, it should not be ruled out.

  1. Richard the Third, Shakespeare, William 1593

DUCHESS. Ah, that deceit should steal such gentle shape, And with a virtuous vizor hide deep vice! He is my son; ay, and therein my shame; Yet from my dugs he drew not this deceit.

  1. Richard the Second, Shakespeare, William 1595

YORK. Thou frantic woman, what dost thou make here? Shall thy old dugs once more a traitor rear?

  1. The Faerie Queene, Book 1, Spenser, Edmund 1596

And as she lay upon the durtie ground, Her huge long taile her den all overspred, Yet was in knots and many boughtes upwound, Pointed with mortall sting. Of her there bred° 130 A thousand yong ones, which she dayly fed, Sucking upon her poisnous dugs, eachone Of sundry shapes, yet all ill favored: Soone as that uncouth light upon them shone, Into her mouth they crept, and suddain all were gone.

  1. The Anatomy of Melancholy, Burton, Robert 1621

Every lover admires his mistress, though she be very deformed of herself, ill-favoured, wrinkled, pimpled, pale, red, yellow, tanned, tallow-faced, have a swollen juggler's platter face, or a thin, lean, chitty face, have clouds in her face, be crooked, dry, bald, goggle-eyed, blear-eyed, or with staring eyes, she looks like a squissed cat, hold her head still awry, heavy, dull, hollow-eyed, black or yellow about the eyes, or squint-eyed, sparrow-mouthed, Persian hook-nosed, have a sharp fox nose, a red nose, China flat, great nose, nare simo patuloque, a nose like a promontory, gubber-tushed, rotten teeth, black, uneven, brown teeth, beetle browed, a witch's beard, her breath stink all over the room, her nose drop winter and summer, with a Bavarian poke under her chin, a sharp chin, lave eared, with a long crane's neck, which stands awry too, pendulis mammis, "her dugs like two double jugs," or else no dugs, in that other extreme, bloody fallen fingers, she have filthy, long unpared nails, scabbed hands or wrists, a tanned skin, a rotten carcass, crooked back, she stoops, is lame, splay-footed, "as slender in the middle as a cow in the waist," gouty legs, her ankles hang over her shoes, her feet stink, she breed lice, a mere changeling, a very monster, an oaf imperfect, her whole complexion savours, a harsh voice, incondite gesture, vile gait, a vast virago, or an ugly tit, a slug, a fat fustilugs, a truss, a long lean rawbone, a skeleton, a sneaker (si qua latent meliora puta), and to thy judgment looks like a merd in a lantern, whom thou couldst not fancy for a world, but hatest, loathest, and wouldst have spit in her face, or blow thy nose in her bosom, remedium amoris to another man, a dowdy, a slut, a scold, a nasty, rank, rammy, filthy, beastly quean, dishonest peradventure, obscene, base, beggarly, rude, foolish, untaught, peevish, Irus' daughter, Thersites' sister, Grobians' scholar, if he love her once, he admires her for all this, he takes no notice of any such errors, or imperfections of body or mind, Ipsa haec--delectant, veluti Balbinum Polypus Agnae,; he had rather have her than any woman in the world. If he were a king, she alone should be his queen, his empress.

  1. Translations from Virgil, Pastorals, Dryden, John 1697

Of grass and fodder thou defraud'st the dams, And of their mothers' dugs the starving lambs.

The goats with strutting dugs shall homeward speed, And lowing herds secure from lions feed.

"I know thee, Love! in deserts thou wert bred, And at the dugs of savage tigers fed;

  1. Gulliver's Travels, Swift, Jonathan 1726

The females were not so large as the males; they had long lank hair on their heads, but none on their faces, nor any thing more than a sort of down on the rest of their bodies, except about the anus and pudenda. The dugs hung between their fore feet, and often reached almost to the ground as they walked. The hair of both sexes was of several colours, brown, red, black, and yellow. Upon the whole, I never beheld, in all my travels, so disagreeable an animal, or one against which I naturally conceived so strong an antipathy.

  1. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Byron, George Gordon 1818

And thou, the thunder-stricken nurse of Rome! She-wolf! whose brazen-imaged dugs impart The milk of conquest yet within the dome

  1. THE RASH CONJURER, Poems, Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 1833

And before 'em their Shepherdess Lucifer's Dam, 20 Riding astride On an old black Ram, With Tartary stirrups, knees up to her chin. And a sleek chrysom imp to her Dugs muzzled in,--

  1. The House of the Wolfings W Morris, William 1889

but yet another God they have, and look you! it is a wolf, as if they were of the kin of our brethren; a she-wolf and two man-children at her dugs; wonderful is this.

  1. Ulysses, Joyce, James 1920

Crouching by a patient cow at daybreak in the lush field, a witch on her toadstool, her wrinkled fingers quick at the squirting dugs.

  1. The Waste Land, Eliot, T. S. 1922

Out of the window perilously spread Her drying combinations touched by the sun’s last rays, On the divan are piled (at night her bed) Stockings, slippers, camisoles, and stays. I Tiresias, old man with wrinkled dugs Perceived the scene, and foretold the rest— I too awaited the expected guest.

17
  • 2
    @David, hello. (I will not comment on Goldstein's translation, in general - I do not always agree with it - it is not the question here.) I felt that this particular sentence was relevant as it highlighted that the phrase itself, 'large breasts', is not necesarily inappropriate and, in this specific, Ferrante's, sentence, it is a direct translation of the Italian 'grosse mamelle'. If Federico wishes to use 'grandes tetas' in Spanish, saying the same in English may be suitable. It is an illustration that simple direct translation may be appropriate.
    – Anya
    Commented Oct 4, 2020 at 22:07
  • 1
    @David, separately, the Italian sentence does not seem to refer to the context that you are descibing, in that specific instance (it is not talking about how 'an american woman would describe...'), however I do not have the italian original in full and cannot comment beyond the sentence cited.
    – Anya
    Commented Oct 4, 2020 at 22:10
  • 2
    @David, re. dugs - I was meaning to post a comment to your answer but you beat me to it. I would think through 'dugs' very carefully. Both the OED and MW suggest that it has become a vulgarity. So, if the story is old, and at the time of the story it would have been a word without a vulgar connotation, one still would need to be careful about it if it has vulgar connotaions now. This would depend, possibly, on how archaic a language one uses in the rest of the story, among other things.
    – Anya
    Commented Oct 4, 2020 at 22:14
  • 1
    @David, hi, re. revising ur entry: I think it is important to expand the list of word-cadidates and not get rid of ideas. We simply know too little about the nature of the spirit creature. The image is not fully representative. The story may describe the creature in such a way that image will appear in a completey different light. So, 'withered' will stop being 'withered'. Any and all word candidates must be considered carefully, and how the word will sound to a modern ear is also a consideration. At the same time, dictionary entries must always be questioned. Saw a case recently: MW was wrong
    – Anya
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 11:29
  • 1
    @David, but MW and OED going 'off' at the same time? This kind of a question may need a lot of work to look into. And re. the human form of the spirit, again, the story may be emphasing the sexuality/ physical beauty, but we do not have enough information. Re. Ferrante - also am curious to discuss.
    – Anya
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 11:31
18

Looking at the image there's nothing "beautiful" about the woman's mammary glands. The colloquial term "tits" is vulgar, so use the formal, inoffensive, "breasts". The image alone will be enough to offend any who are straitlaced.

She had large sagging breasts. (uncomplimentary)
She had large breasts (positive neutral meaning)
She had a large bosom (neutral but dated)

Personally, if I was telling this story to kids, I'd go for "boobs", which is very informal but appropriate seeing as this is a traditional folk tale. Besides, we are in 2020, what could possibly go wrong?

8
  • 3
    Upvoting this for the first option. The extra word makes it clear that the entire description is not meant to be taken in a purient way (as one might see in the pages of a bodice-ripper), which is key to rendering the description inoffensive.
    – T.E.D.
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 3:11
  • I agree with the sentiment of your first sentence, but I would add the caveat that 'the breasts are not conventionally beautiful, at least in a western context'
    – dwjohnston
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 3:12
  • 10
    Don't like the choice of "boobs", since the word these days tends to indicate appreciation. Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 7:42
  • @T.E.D., however, in the P.S., Federico seems to explain that the being has two forms: a spirit form and a human form. The human form is meant to be physically attractive and seductive. If the story speaks of both forms, then two different descriptions will be needed, particularly if there is contrast between the two.
    – Anya
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 9:26
  • 1
    Guys, it just makes no sense at all to provide a sensible answer to "a different question". the question is NOT "what is the PC SWR for large sagging breasts". (To which this would be a fine answer - on ELL.) The question is "help me write a passge in my story about this surrealist image".
    – Fattie
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 13:19
5

The way you draw it, I'd call them grotesquely large breasts. Otherwise, pointed and pendulous.

I imagine you will offend many women with the image - there's little you can do about it except change your image. Consider a male beast with a penis that touches the ground - it would offend a lot of people.

1
  • But if it were part of a folk tale, as indeed I recall an instance in some culture, it would have to be described as it is. Even puritans have penises.
    – David
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 20:28
3

If we are going to just discuss the concept of "large breasts" without trying to offend, without considering the picture that shows what happens to large breasts over time, you might consider the term buxom to describe the woman. It has a few meanings, among them "healthy" and "vivacious" (full of energy), but in common usage, it means "large breasts".

Miriam Webster defines it as :

  1. vigorously or healthily plump

    // a buxom warm friendly woman -- Burl Ives

    specifically : full-bosomed

  2. archaic : full of gaiety

  3. obsolete :

    a. OBEDIENT, TRACTABLE

    b. offering little resistance : FLEXIBLE

    // wing silently the buxom air -- John Milton

2
  • This hits the same problem as beautiful. It does not fit with the image.
    – Jontia
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 18:48
  • @Jontia : you have to ignore the picture, because there is a cultural component to beauty, and that might be considered to be a beautiful image at the time in that region. (like how many images of women from the European Renaissance would now be considered "plus sized"). Likewise skin tone, hair color, breast size, piercing, tattoos, etc. See slrlounge.com/… for an example of how varied "beauty" can be just from touching up the same photo.
    – Joe
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 20:44
3

This is a very difficult post to answer. You want to avoid offending ANYONE? Why? What is the purpose and intended audience of your writing? This matters.

Offense is a personal thing, though one dictated in part by social mores. And of course nowadays "offense" can morph into outrage and cancellation very easily. So that could be your worry? Still, who is offended and by what depends often on the context of the art, and the age, stage and political stripes of those who read it.

Saying that a woman has "large breasts" shouldn't be problematic in something like a novel, or short fiction story, as a form of characterization.

In a news story it would be very different, because "why would you mention it?" In a longer non-fiction piece it could come up, but there would need to be some motivation for it -- perhaps the woman is considering surgery, or she faced discrimination due to her body, or struggled to find clothing that fit -- etc. etc.

In a children's story, there is a lower threshold for "offence" and you would have to be cautious. That said, there are children's book classics that talk about "poo" and "pee" and private parts, in a way that's often seen as progressive and important for kids to understand their bodies.

I don't know if your tale is aimed at kids, or a more adult audience, or both. I don't know how or where you plan to publish it, if you have a large following or just a blog no one reads (I have one like that, so no shade!). Some of the suggestions here are good and well, but fundamentally, write accurately and honestly about your topic and you should be fine.

If the picture is an accurate representation of what want to impart, then "large, sagging breasts" seems totally fair. You could even use "chest" as a euphamism if you felt uneasy. Presumably this physique suggests or means something to readers too, like the spirit's age or life, having many children, etc. Make that part of your story too, if it's relevant.

0

A contemporary non-offensive term for breasts, quite unsuitable for a folk tale

The poster asks for a non-offensive term for breasts. Ignoring the question of offense for the moment, one contemporary non-sexual way to refer to a woman’s breasts is using the word:

Bust

It is especially used in clothing sizes, but certainly not exclusively, despite a comment to the contrary. An example from an autobiography published in 2011

One of the girls from our class that attracted the attention of all the boys was Carol Mulligan, an early bloomer who had an exceptionally well-developed bust.

A traditional term, if somewhat rural or archaic, used in folk tales

Dug being defined by Oxford Lexico as:

the udder, teat, or nipple of a female animal

(Archaic) a woman’s breast

As the examples on that page and in the answer from @Anya indicate, this term is usually applied to the breasts of an old woman and not the attractive breasts of a young girl. This would seem to fit the illustration, and one might write something like:

The Siguanaba had long and pendulous dugs

A similar word is pap, although this especially applies to the breasts while suckling and the teats in particular:

pap [archaic, dialect] A woman’s breast or nipple.

‘And how else did you think I came to you with my paps full of milk, when you were first a babe?’

Honi soit qui mal y pense

The concern of the poster with not giving offense is natural for a non-native speaker, but there can be no question of giving offense in describing anatomy in literature. The only concern is using language that is consistent with the style of writing. A breast is a breast whether it is described as a bust or a bosom or a tit or a boob or a bristol.

The problems of style and audience

It seems to me that there are two related problems here, neither of which a non-native speaker who posts a question like this can hope to solve. The first is to decide on a style and vocabulary to relate a folk story; the second is whether in doing so to make concessions to a modern urban audience with only limited literary education.

Traditional folk stories are generally set in a much earlier time and in a rural environment. A common choice — but not the only one — is to adopt a “Once upon a time…” style with short simple sentences avoiding modern vocabulary that would seem anachronistic to the educated. One virtue of this (besides its effectiveness) is that it maintains the link with our linguistic and cultural heritage. A problem is that the language and culture it portrays is quite alien to contemporary urban children†. A rural child will have seen animals suckling, will be (or would have been) familiar with terms such as ‘dugs’ and hence the use of the word in relation to humans would have an animal association rather than one of sexual attraction. At a particular time in history, the sight of women suckling babes in the fields would have been common, and the description of a woman’s breasts in a folk story would seem quite natural to a child.

The solution adopted is a choice for the individual writer that depends on his skill and attitude, and needs to be made advisedly. It may or may not work. It is unlikely to work if one needs to solicit vocabulary from an internet forum.


† Not only children. Ann Goldstein, the New Yorker journalist and translator of Elena Ferrante’s Italian novel “L’amica geniale” (My Brilliant Friend) translates piede di ferro, the item in the cobbler’s workshop that he throws at his daughter, as “iron foot”. Presumably Goldstein’s urban upbringing meant that she had only ever seen shoes in stores, and forgotten — or misunderstood — the saying about the cobbler sticking to his last.

11
  • 4
    Yes, 'an eldritch cursed spirit, bust size 56Q' doesn't come across too well. Commented Oct 4, 2020 at 16:21
  • 1
    I'm going to disagree with this. That word is used to refer to the visual effect both of them make within a garment. In this case, there is no garment.
    – T.E.D.
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 3:06
  • 1
    @David - 2 points here: 1 - I wouldn't argue that usage from nearly 2 centuries ago is nessecarily a good guide to modern usage, 2 - I don't see anything in there contradicting what I said, as all the entries I looked at there are talking about the visual effect of the form while clothed.
    – T.E.D.
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 13:42
  • 1
    I disagree because the animal connotations of “dugs” makes it inherently offensive. The spirit might look animal-like but the question implies human origins.
    – Pam
    Commented Oct 6, 2020 at 7:41
  • 1
    @David, the spirit was previously a woman. If the story is sympathetic towards her, and trying to be respectful, using "dugs" is essentially a metaphor comparing the spirit to an animal. Maybe it's appropriate, and your edit makes me more sympathetic to the word (I'm an urban child!), but I still think it would make me think "why can't the author just say breasts, why are they using an archaic and slightly offensive term?". If the spirit is animal like, then the use is appropriate. Maybe I'm a little precious about it, though.
    – Pam
    Commented Oct 6, 2020 at 15:18
-1

A euphemism that Macmillan classes as 'very informal' while other dictionaries use the caveat 'slang' is well-endowed:

well-endowed ...

(2) VERY INFORMAL a well-endowed woman has large breasts

  • It was a not-too-subtle photograph of an extremely well-endowed lady.

But any reference to (human) breast size outside of a medical environment (or perhaps a police line-up) might be seen as sexist, derogatory. And note that 'well-endowed' has a primary sense, and a parallel sense to this one for men.

6
  • Hi Edwin, thanks for your comment. Do you think a woman from your country would feel offended if they hear that? This is what I'm trying to avoid. This in Spanish is not a major issue. There are some translations that can be controversial, another time I faced a similar with "Mojados" (illegal immigrants in the US) that the closest translation was Wetback, but this one in English is extremely derogatory when in Spanish is just normal. Commented Oct 4, 2020 at 14:12
  • 'Taking a large size in blouses' might be even more euphemistic, but it doesn't work with your humanoid (whatever they are). Commented Oct 4, 2020 at 14:13
  • 1
    It's a spirit cursed by a god. It's an ancient story that even my mom or grandma shared with me several times. Commented Oct 4, 2020 at 14:16
  • 2
    Since they're an invented genus, provided you don't over-emphasise the femalish wotsit ↔ human woman connection and try to prevent metaphorical links (hard), 'large-breasted' should be fine. I love large-breasted turkeys, even if they take a couple of hours longer to cook. Commented Oct 4, 2020 at 14:54
  • 3
    Modern euphemisms in translated folk stories? I think not.
    – David
    Commented Oct 4, 2020 at 20:28
-1

I am going to answer the question you posted in the title and ignore the picture (because I think the best description of the breasts of that women/creature is not big but rather saggy or hanging, I know not a flattering description but it's not a flattering picture).

As a 100 percent neutral, technical and non-sexual alternative for "big breasts" you could use "large mammalian glands". Apart from that there is no good alternative I think. Any other word/expression: big tits, well-endowed, curvy, busty, just sounds even more sexual.

7
  • 2
    breasts are not glands
    – user163011
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 12:05
  • 2
    @theonlygusti — Really? Then I obviously wasted three years doing a doctorate on the biochemistry of milk secretion in mouse mammary gland. Glands produce secretions, and, believe it or not, the purpose of mammary glands in mammals is to produce milk, so that they can suckle their young. (Obviously an anatomical rather than a vernacular term, which is why it would sound absurd in a folk tale. But scientifically correct.)
    – David
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 12:40
  • 1
    I've typically heard them referred to as "mammary glands" vs. "mammalian glands", but I'm not a scientist who studies these sorts of things.
    – Joe
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 13:29
  • 2
    Mice don't have breasts: they have mammary glands (and indeed nipples), but a human breast is a combination of glandular tissue and fatty tissue. Look it up in an anatomy book or medical dictionary.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 16:24
  • 1
    @David your education is impressive, but while mammary glands are present within the breast, but the breast in common usage does NOT only refer to the mammary gland or "mammalian gland" (good lord what a phrase). It means the visible anatomical feature which includes external elements, the skin, nipple, hair follicles and sebaceous glands, as well internal elements such as mammary glands, ducts, fat, vasculature and some muscle.
    – B. Findlay
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 16:30
-2

One might describe the woman in a more roundabout way, something like:

Her body wore the wounds of time, inflicted by the dozens of open-mouthed and empty-stomached babes that suckled through the decades. Her heart ached for the babes past, who hadn't survived to adult-hood, and the careworn lines on her face sagged in sorrow for the passing years as her youthful beauty withered with each harvest. No man would look at her and see what had-been, but she remembered what life had been like when she was young and full of living.

Gives the general idea without directly saying she was saggy and wrinkled.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .