While we are aware of sugary new-age terms like “BFF” and “besties”, here’s a new one thrown up by the Internet generation – DUFF, Designated Ugly Fat Friend.
The term defines the least attractive person in a group. And if you thought that it was reserved for teenagers, you would be wrong.
Image consultant Bindu Mukherjee feels that it’s a marketing strategy. “How else can you define such a shallow friendship?” she reasons. “While shooting for songs in movies, they hire short people so that stars look tall when compared to them. Looks like this is a strategy people are using in real life too.”
“If people befriend others based on looks,then that’s a problem right there,” she adds.
Tarz Rabbani, student of St. Francis, says, “Especially in girls’ colleges, there is a pressure to look good. So this could be why people do such things. It is extremely shallow.”
But what about the DUFFs? Do they want to stay away from the attractive ones? Richard Rego of St. Mary’s says, “I feel they would. Because if they are seen with good-looking people, their accomplishments could lose their significance.”
“Attractive people could do this, but on an unconscious level, mostly to shine in the limelight.”
