Some questions about an advertisement

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"A Chronic Dieter

You know Clara Wolkoff. She's the girl who always tucks a towel around her waist at the beach. She zips her slacks lying down. She wears her blouses out. She's got 15 pounds to lose and she's lost it. At least 32 times. (A chronic dieter can lose and regain 4801 bs by the time she's 35. )

Most diets fail because they're unrealistic. They expect you to eat the foods you don't like and resist the ones you do. Psychologically, forbidden foods look better than ever. You cheat. You feel guilty. You abandon the diet completely. Till the next time.

What Weight Watchers Frozen Meals offers you is 28 dishes specially made for a sensible weight loss program. 28 dishes you never in your wildest dreams thought you could eat without feeling guilty. Dishes like Lasagna.

"Lasagna?" you may question with raised eyebrow, skepticism waiting in the wings. Allow us to demystify our Lasagna:

First of all, we serve you a sensible portion. Enough to satisfy you without stuffing you.

Then... we used flavorful ingredients to enhance our dishes, rather than fats and fillers to mask its essence. In France, the mega chief now tout this form of cooking as la Cuisine Minceur. And it works.

So Clara Walkoffs of the world, here's some food for thought; let the dishes that always tempted you off your diet, tempt you on. You've got nothing to lose, except maybe a few pounds. "

This is perhaps an advertisement which I am translating now. There are some sentences I do not understand and hope that any of you can help me explain them.

What is a "chronic dieter"?
In the first paragraph:
What's the meaning of "She zips her slacks lying down. She wears her blouses out. " ? Do the two sentences have anything to do with the previous one? (lie down at the beach?)
What is "bs"? An abbreviation of a unit of weight?

In the fourth paragraph:
Does "in the wings" mean "follows"?

I'm sorry that I cannot find the source of the passage. It's just an assignment from my teacher.

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[+3] - Phoenix32890 - 03/31/2011[quote]What is a "chronic dieter"? In the first paragraph: What's the meaning of "She zips her slacks lying down. She wears her blouses out. " ? Do the two sentences have...

View best answer, chosen by Justin Xu

@Justin Xu,

A "chronic" dieter is someone who is always on a diet. They lose weight, quit dieting, gain weight, go on a diet, lose weight, quit dieting, gain weight, and on and on and on.

Wearing a shirt "out" (untucked) is like wrapping a towel around your waist in that you're trying to hide your stomach. Laying down to zip up your pants is what some overweight people do to help them get their pants when they don't fit right anymore.

The towel, shirt and zipping are all ways that overweight people try to hide or deal with their weight.

I think you misread the "4801 bs" -- it should be 480 lbs. lbs is the abbreviation for pounds.

"Skepticism waiting in the wings" means that she wants to believe that she can eat lasagna but she knows it isn't commonly considered a diet food. She's ready to be skeptical.

Waiting in the wings is a term used in theaters where an actor is about to go on stage and is waiting backstage for their cue.

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@Justin Xu,

Quote:

What is a "chronic dieter"?
In the first paragraph:
What's the meaning of "She zips her slacks lying down. She wears her blouses out. " ? Do the two sentences have anything to do with the previous one? (lie down at the beach?)
What is "bs"? An abbreviation of a unit of weight?

In the fourth paragraph:
Does "in the wings" mean "follows"?

A chronic dieter is someone who often attempts to lose weight through portion control, choice of less fattening foods, etc.

If a person has a large belly that sticks out, zipping pants while lying down will often allow the person to close his/her pants more easily.

People who have thick waistlines, or a roll around the middle, will often wear their blouses out, to help conceal the excess fat.

The word is "lbs." which is another way of writing "pounds."

Lasagna is usually considered a fattening food. The writer is saying that people may well be skeptical of lasagna as part of a weight loss diet. "skepticism waiting in the wings" indicates that the reader might not accept the idea that lasagna is part of a weight loss diet.

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@boomerang,

Quote:

Wearing a shirt "out" (untucked) is

With no experience in the dieting scene, I glossed that as actually wearing out the material of those blouses because of the extra stress put on said material.

I'm not suggesting I'm right, just pointing out that native speakers can be fooled too.

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