How should you write bra sizes?

[alohadave]

I really try to avoid measurements, but have had to mention bra sizes once or thrice. Sometimes it’s necessary. So, yes, ‘32B’ is the appropriate way.

Pedantry Warning! One reason some people cringe over written bra sizes is that they are often written by people who have no idea how the sizing system works. For writers (male writers in particular as women probably already know) wanting to use specific sizes, for heaven’s sake do three minutes basic research! Bigger letters and numbers don’t always mean sexier. OK, it’s symbolic, I get it, the mention of a D cup is like a fire bell to some. But it can also be like squeaking chalk on a blackboard.

Google ‘sister sizes’ to see part of the problem. There are a lot of women wearing differently-sized bras but who have the same size boobs. For instance, Miss 32B we were just speaking of actually has the same size breasts as ladies wearing 30C, 34A and 36AA bras. Really and ir’s not a question of mis-sizing.

Research can be fun…

There is good information on bra sizing here: http://reddit.com/r/abrathatfits/wiki/beginners_guide

 

[TarnishedPenny]

crrrrrrrrrtshsssssssssscssrrsssrrrtssssssssssseeeeeeessssssbuggeroffeeeeesrccccrrrttssscreeee

Arrrggg! That’s just cruel!

 

[thomas1965]

Should it be; 32B, thirty-two B, thirty-two b, or something else?

I find 32B the easiest to read.

 

[Auden James]

I find 32B the easiest to read.

Ditto.

 

[Carnevil9]

When in doubt, look to the masters.

Hemingway once wrote: "It was hot. She peeled off her blouse, and threw her 34B brassiere on the floor."

Whereas Shakespeare once wrote: "Forsooth, thy faire maiden unlatched her thirty-six dee-cup undergarment, exposing for the entire tavern her pendulous womanly flesh."

And of course Lovecraft famously wrote: "Had I known, ere I ventured to enter that eldritch chamber, that I would soon be enjoying for the last time, a pair of breasts sized eight-and-twenty B, I would have fled in horror for my very life."

 

[onehitwanda]

And of course Lovecraft famously wrote: "Had I known, ere I ventured to enter that eldritch chamber, that I would soon be enjoying for the last time, a pair of breasts sized eight-and-twenty B, I would have fled in horror for my very life."

This is nonsense, part of the garbled Arkham translations that were attributed to Walter Beauchamp, an acolyte and latter-day prolific Lovecraft forger.

The actual line is:

"Had I conceived, ere I dared the threshold of that squamous door from whence the noisome sussuration of unknown horrors roared forth, that this might be my last sojourn into such places, I would have fled and rather turned my restless gait to the ill-regarded sanctuary of Dolores Palm's establishment - there to enjoy a double of bourbon and the warm, enfolding but above all living embrace of Miss Shannon O'Reiley and her slender B-cup bosom"

Beauchamp was notorious for his numerate ways.

 

[stickygirl]

Lil' egg-cup Sue and wallowing Wanda
The guys all prayed they’d be chosen to fondl’er
But Sue was a dyke, tattooed and quite vicious
And thought Wanda's tits were fucking delicious
But the big girls affections were wayward and lush
Her tits squished poor Sue, who died of tit crush
You can’t trust a b-size, or c-size or dee
For murderous affection, it’s e-size you need

 

[Athalia]

You might use something like: "A 32B usually works best for me." That gives the actual measurement, but implies that not all 32Bs are the same, and some will fit a woman's breast better than others. It also implies that most bra sizes are compromises, rather than ideal solutions.

 

[XerXesXu]

It also implies that most bra sizes are compromises, rather than ideal solutions.

It's the same with condoms.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It's the same with condoms.

Way back when... condoms were held behind the counter in chemists, and the nice lady (who could easily have been my mother, except she didn't work in a chemist's shop) asked, "Would you like a large or a small size?"

It being my first time buying condoms, it was a slightly awkward question. "Um, what sizes are there?"

"Oh, dear, they come in packs of three, or twelve."

I'm sure, as I made my way to the door with my little pack of three, she looked at my back, thinking, "What a responsible boy, getting prepared like that. I wonder if it's the vicar's daughter, again."

The jeweller's daughter, as a matter of fact.

 

[yowser]

Lil' egg-cup Sue and wallowing Wanda
The guys all prayed they’d be chosen to fondl’er
But Sue was a dyke, tattooed and quite vicious
And thought Wanda's tits were fucking delicious
But the big girls affections were wayward and lush
Her tits squished poor Sue, who died of tit crush
You can’t trust a b-size, or c-size or dee
For murderous affection, it’s e-size you need

Brilliant.

I never cease to be astonished at the bravura level of creative talent buried here in the AH woodwork.

 

[SimonDoom]

And of course Lovecraft famously wrote: "Had I known, ere I ventured to enter that eldritch chamber, that I would soon be enjoying for the last time, a pair of breasts sized eight-and-twenty B, I would have fled in horror for my very life."

I have to be honest--I'll probably piss off some fans--I think HP Lovecraft is highly overrated. The prose style is over-wrought, the description of the monster/terror tends to under-deliver(too much telling, not enough showing), and his tales are all filtered through a secondary (and to my mind unnecessary) narrator.

IMO he's not even close to being as good a writer of fantastical suspense stories as Edgar Allen Poe, who preceded him by decades.

 

[jehoram]

I personally get off on seeing the bra size. Just my .02

For some readers, that's all you need to conjure up whatever sort of ideal jugs are being described. The larger the better.

It's the same with condoms.

Except that condoms are a lot more elastic than bras are, so the tolerances aren't as important.

 

[djrip]

I have to be honest--I'll probably piss off some fans--I think HP Lovecraft is highly overrated. The prose style is over-wrought, the description of the monster/terror tends to under-deliver(too much telling, not enough showing), and his tales are all filtered through a secondary (and to my mind unnecessary) narrator.

IMO he's not even close to being as good a writer of fantastical suspense stories as Edgar Allen Poe, who preceded him by decades.

Poe is the better writer, Lovecraft is the cooler mythos.

 

[Mr_Blackr0se]

Thanks, Wise. This is a specific situation where a woman is joking about bra sizes and gives a specific.

I think 32B would be the way to go then. And I like the fact you worked it in organically. Wish more people would do that when they write. And that applies to all writers. Sigh... lol

 

[onehitwanda]

Poe is the better writer, Lovecraft is the cooler mythos.

Neil Gaiman writing Lovecraft is great : https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/47728

 

[XerXesXu]

Except that condoms are a lot more elastic than bras are, so the tolerances aren't as important.

There speaks a man who's never retrieved a condom, that's slipped off, while pondering the consequences.

 

[HordHolm]

I have to be honest--I'll probably piss off some fans--I think HP Lovecraft is highly overrated. The prose style is over-wrought, the description of the monster/terror tends to under-deliver(too much telling, not enough showing), and his tales are all filtered through a secondary (and to my mind unnecessary) narrator.

IMO he's not even close to being as good a writer of fantastical suspense stories as Edgar Allen Poe, who preceded him by decades.

At the risk (nay, the certainty) of hijacking the thread, I wish I could recommend your comment more than once. Lovecraft is almost unreadable: over-wrought is a perfect description. I've tried hard over the years to enjoy his writing, to buy into the worship he elicits, but it just isn't there. There are a couple of decent stories, but as you point out, when it finally comes time to face the beast he is revealed for what he is - all build up, no delivery. Poe is by far the better author, and I'd also include MR James, if in a slightly different direction.

 

[onehitwanda]

At the risk (nay, the certainty) of hijacking the thread, I wish I could recommend your comment more than once. Lovecraft is almost unreadable: over-wrought is a perfect description. I've tried hard over the years to enjoy his writing, to buy into the worship he elicits, but it just isn't there. There are a couple of decent stories, but as you point out, when it finally comes time to face the beast he is revealed for what he is - all build up, no delivery. Poe is by far the better author, and I'd also include MR James, if in a slightly different direction.

I view Lovecraft as a modern day Beowulf - something you have to experience. For actual horror there are other, better authors.

 

[Carnevil9]

At the risk (nay, the certainty) of hijacking the thread, I wish I could recommend your comment more than once. Lovecraft is almost unreadable: over-wrought is a perfect description. I've tried hard over the years to enjoy his writing, to buy into the worship he elicits, but it just isn't there. There are a couple of decent stories, but as you point out, when it finally comes time to face the beast he is revealed for what he is - all build up, no delivery. Poe is by far the better author, and I'd also include MR James, if in a slightly different direction.

That's a bit harsh, but not untrue. I don't think Lovecraft is famous so much for his prose, as for his imagination, and the influence that he exerted on the horror industry as a whole.

 

[stickygirl]

Sorry, but who the fuck is Lovecraft?

 

[onehitwanda]

Sorry, but who the fuck is Lovecraft?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft

One of the fathers of modern Horror, and the genesis of the entire Cthulhu mythos.

 

[stickygirl]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft

One of the fathers of modern Horror, and the genesis of the entire Cthulhu mythos.

Oh right.
That's why
Never liked Genesis
Carry on

 

[onehitwanda]

Never liked Genesis

That's just because the only thing about you is the way you walk, babe.

(Just kidding!)

 

[stickygirl]

That's just because the only thing about you is the way you walk, babe.

(Just kidding!)

I'll assume that is a Genesis song. ...something bla bla in the air tonight... Oh Lord