jelly belly

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Source? Why would it be from a candy brand and not just from a jelly-like belly in general?”) Likely from Jelly Belly, the brand of candy.

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jelly belly (plural jelly bellies)

1. (slang) Rolls of fat that form around the stomach of an overweight person.
   • 2008, Simmone Howell, Everything Beautiful

     My stretchy top kept riding above my jelly belly, but I didn't care.

   • 2012, Niamh Greene, A Message to Your Heart

     Or maybe she just has that dreaded jelly belly – the same one I seem to have after all the American portions.

2. (slang) An obese person.
   • 2019, Larry McCoy, Grandma Told Me to Never Believe Anything Grandpa Says:

     Wait for me, patiently, at the bottom of the run, ask if I want to take a break and, above all, do not yell “come on you jelly belly” when I'm struggling to complete a tough run or taking half a day to force my feet into my ski boots.

• Tony Thorne (2014), “jelly belly”, in Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 4th edition, London; […]: Bloombury