A Fit Girl

[airbolt]

I was amused to read an interview with Actor Zach Braff in which he was asked " How Fit is Natalie Portman? " by a typical Tabloid Hack. His reply was " Well, I think she goes to a Gym " !

How did the use of "fit" meaning attractive (in a woman) come about?

[Quizmonster]

One meaning of the adjective 'fit' since the 1500s has been "of the right measure or size". As it seems to be the prettiness of a woman's measurements - if you get my drift - which are being commented on, that would seem to be the same sort of meaning.
In exactly the modern sense of 'attractive', the earliest recorded use of it was in an item in The Observer in 1985. This contained the following two-line conversation...
A. "Better 'en that bird you blagged last night."

B. "Go away! She was fit."

(I should point out that the opening two words spoken by B were not "Go away!")
I also believe that 'fit 'is being used by women speaking of attractive men, too, nowadays.

[bernardo]

And by men of men.
e.g. Prince Harry (or "Hunky Harry the Cheeky Chappie (Naughty but Nice)" as I think of him) who is "fit" in both senses of the word.

[123paul]

Women & Men. It might be linked to physical fitness. Our society only views people with fit, healthy bodies as attractive. It's a shorthand for saying, she has a nice firm bum..he has nice legs, muscular arms, i.e., they are fit in the true sense of the word. Possibly ?

[maxi29]

QM, I was in use well before 1985. I remember going to university in Yorkshire in 1977 and being baffled by the talk of 'fit lasses'. Like the interviewee in the question, I assumed that it was referring to their physical condition - it took me a few days before I realised what it meant.

Don't the kids of today say 'buff' now?

[Quizmonster]

You could well be right, Maxi. I referred to 'the earliest recorded use'...ie one that has been discovered in print. Obviously, none of the your Yorkshire folks in the late 70s ever put pen to paper on the matter...at least not in a manner which has found its way into the public domain.
As for 'buff' being the latest version of the concept, I have no idea. Cheers

[Narolines]

I'm sticking my neck out a bit here, but I could swear I remember Terry & Bob (The Likely Lads) talking aboiut "fit lasses", and how long ago ws the first series of that? It was black & white, that I do remember.

[Narolines]

The Likely Lads first aired in 1964, apparently; but I can't prove whether the expression "fit lasses" was used, or whether I can just imagine it's the sort of thing James Bolam (as Terry) would have said.........