The original question (in English anyway) is fairest of them all - as in pale of face. Snow White was so pale she was literally named Snow White.
Now… can you think of a reason people in history would interpret being ‘the whitest’ as being ‘the prettiest’…? Enough for the word ‘fair’ to be used to mean ‘pretty’ directly?
The evil queen was literally jealous she wasn’t the whitest person to ever live
Or maybe, Since most people including children, worked outdoors on farms, a tan and rough skin was common from manual labor.
Pale or fair skin was a status symbol showing you were wealthy enough to stay inside, so ‘fair’ became synonymous with ‘beautiful.’"
Trivia!
The original question (in English anyway) is fairest of them all - as in pale of face. Snow White was so pale she was literally named Snow White.
Now… can you think of a reason people in history would interpret being ‘the whitest’ as being ‘the prettiest’…? Enough for the word ‘fair’ to be used to mean ‘pretty’ directly?
The evil queen was literally jealous she wasn’t the whitest person to ever live
Or maybe, Since most people including children, worked outdoors on farms, a tan and rough skin was common from manual labor. Pale or fair skin was a status symbol showing you were wealthy enough to stay inside, so ‘fair’ became synonymous with ‘beautiful.’"