[otnemem]

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Enormously fat women - i.e. 280 pounds plus - who wear sleeveless tops DESPITE NOT REALISING THEIR FAT ARMS ARE DISGUSTING.

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how do people not know what despite means?

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de·spite (d-spt)
prep.
In spite of; notwithstanding

Your point being?

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The observation should be that they wear such shirts BECAUSE they don't realize their arms are fat, not IN SPITE OF not realizing their arms are fat. Throwing in a "despite" here is the old "because doesn't sound smart so I'll use a different word" trap.

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I don't accept your alternative phrasing. "Despite" is the correct word for what I meant. These fatties wear short-sleeved tops for whatever reason - maybe they liked the colour in the store. They did not choose the garment just because they didn't know how grotesque their fat arms would look.

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It doesn't sound right, Jimm. If you were saying that they DO realize how gross their arms are, it would be okay: "The wear these shirts, despite knowing how disgusting their arms are." But saying "despite not knowing" doesn't really make any sense. If they don't know something, how can they do something in spite of it? Really, you should have said, "Despite the fact that their arms are disgusting."