When I was chatting with one of my colleague, she sent me her old photograph. To that I replied-
nice pic, you are looking healthy.
To that she sent me-
thanks, but ironically I was thinner this time.
From my observation she was looking fat in pic and now she had lost some weight. but what she meant to say, I did not understand her reply? Was that sentence grammatically correct? I used the word 'healthy' instead of fat, so Was my selection of word correct this time?
That's right! It's used as a sentence modifier.
She meant...
*it is ironic that she was thinner (then).
She just tried to convey the message that as you said the looks 'healthy' (sophisticated way to tell someone a little fat!), she was actually leaner.
Yes, your word of choice was correct (but then she understood it well!)
It's really an interesting chat, which made a good use of a euphemism and an irony.
When the OP says "Nice pic, you are looking healthy", he is using the adj healthy as a euphemism for "fat". I think there is nothing wrong with this selection.
Similarly, his colleague's reply is ironic. However, her sentence is not correct grammatically. She should have used "(at) that time" instead of "this time" as the sentence is in the past. The correct sentence is:
"Thanks. But, ironically, I was thinner (at) that time".
