Why can't you call a fat person fat? The other day my buddy was telling a group of us a story about how a co-worker had a heart attack in the middle of work and how it was a huge scene, ETC. I asked if the person in question was fat and literally the whole table went silent. Someone even said "wow, that's rude to ask" My question is, why is saying a fat person is fat a bad things? I can guarantee that if my buddy had said "so and so had cirrhosis of the liver" nobody would get upset if you asked if they were an alcoholic. Same if someone had lung cancer and you asked if they were a smoker.   Why is it socially unacceptable to ask if a person is fat?