[General] What is considered rude? Calling a person fat/skinny/tall/short...?

[goodstudent]

If I told another person: Please pass this paper to that ??? (see below for ???) guy/girl over there.

What is considered rude? or not rude?

???:
fat
skinny
young
old
tall
short
wearing glasses
bald
muscular
short hair

I mean I am not sure what description is ok and not ok. Is there any rude ones that are not listed here? Hope to learn more so I will not accidentally say something wrong.

 

[tedmc]

fat x
skinny x
young
old x
tall
short x
wearing glasses
bald x
muscular
short hair

I would consider the adjectives which I have crossed above as rude.
I am sure there are other ways to refer to a person without commenting on their looks - like the way they are dressed, the colour of their clothes, where they are seated/located, etc.

 

[MikeNewYork]

These days, almost any physical description will be considered rude by someone.

 

[emsr2d2]

Of the list you gave, I would say the only two you could probably get away with safely are "wearing glasses" and "short hair". The rest are mostly subjective - you might think someone is fat but that person might not think they are, so they would certainly be insulted.

I find using clothing descriptions can be helpful - "Please pass this book to that lady in the red coat and black boots".

Generally, we're discouraged from using physical descriptions when referring to people in everyday language. Of course, there are exceptions - if you're giving a description to the police, you need to describe exactly what you saw.

 

[TheParser]

fat [NO. People do not like to be considered "fat."]
skinny [OK. A more elegant word might be "slender." Most people consider that quite a compliment.]
young [OK. Everyone wants to be young.]
old [NO. As the saying goes, everyone wants to live a long time, but no one wants to grow "old." You could say: "Would you please pass this note to that older gentleman / lady sitting in the third row?"]
tall [Fine. Most people are proud of being tall.]
short [NO. Personally, I'm proud of being only 5'5", but many short people are rather sensitive about the issue.]
wearing glasses [OK. Most people with glasses have no problem with that. If they did, they would be wearing contacts.]
bald [NO. People do not want their baldness brought to their attention.]
muscular [Great! What man does not want to be called "muscular"?]
short hair [OK. Since the person has short hair, s/he is obviously not embarrassed by that fact.]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

I have indicated my opinion above. Since you are talking to someone else (NOT the intended recipient of your note), most of those words would be OK.