Reader question:

Please explain “lean and mean” in this sentence: The Philippines ambassador to China hopes the Asian Games will further strengthen ties between the two nations and promises that his country will field a team that is lean but mean.

My comments:

It means the Philippines intend to send a small but efficient squad to compete in the upcoming Asian Games in Guangzhou in November, 2010.

To put the whole thing in context, the Philippines, according to a brief search online, is going to send a 50-man delegation to the Asian Games. That is a small number in comparison with the number of athletes from other countries. Hosts China, for instance, is expected to field a team that is ten times larger in number, and hopefully in efficiency also.

Now, definitions. “Lean but mean” is a variation from the more commonplace “lean and mean” – an American idiom that means fit (lean) and efficient (mean).

Somebody who is lean is without the excess of fat. In other words they’re thin – with mostly muscles. “Mean” here means not nasty (as in, mean spirited) but excellent. In colloquialism, when we say, for example, that Roger Federer has a mean backhand, we mean to say that the world No. 1 tennis player whips an excellent backhand passing shot, to compliment an equally good forehand.

Figuratively, when “lean and mean” is used to describe something, such as an industry or a government organ, it means it’s streamlined and efficient.

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