(Only a little bit about language.)
In assembling material about shirtlessness, I came across this arresting photo:
(#1)
This from a site that has a lot on knitting and men’s bodies, among other things. The poster’s caption:
I have a thing for hairy forearms, calves, and thighs. And a beautiful face. Call me gay if you want.
He is definitely gay. And I share his tastes.
On the fore- of forearm, from Michael Quinion’s affixes site:
Before, beforehand, going before, in front of, leading. [Old English fore.]
Verbs, adjectives, and nouns containing this [combining] form have a general sense of being in front of something else, either in time or place. It can indicate a front part of the body: forehead, forearm, forebrain, foreleg, forelock. Several refer to parts of a sailing ship near the bows, such as foremast, foresail, forecastle (abbreviated to fo’c'sle), and forestay. Examples relating to time include forecast, foretell, foresee, forebear, forefather, and forestall. A foreword is a short introduction to a book; a forecourt is an open area in front of a building; a foreman or forewoman is a person in charge of others or one who presides over a jury; someone or something that is foremost is the most prominent in rank, importance, or position.
A few of these have counterpart expressions: hindbrain for forebrain, hind leg for foreleg, afterword for foreword — and upper arm for forerm.
Now back to the bodies. Seen shirtless in earlier postings, now with a focus on their forearms: actor Dean Cain and tennis player Roger Federer:
(#2)
(#3)
In finding these, I came across this photo of actor Ryan Reynolds:
(#4)
Face and forearm, plus a tattoo. On Reynolds, from Wikipedia:
Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian film and television actor. Reynolds is known for playing Michael Bergen on the ABC sitcom Two Guys and a Girl (1998–2001), Billy Simpson in the YTV Canadian teen soap opera Hillside (1991-1993), as well as Marvel Comics characters Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity (2004) and Wade Wilson/Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)…
As a bonus, here’s a shirtless Reynolds:
(#5)
A further bonus: a racy, but not X-rated, photo of my man Jacques in his youth:
(#6)
Nice light fur.
