Culture 胖å* in Chinese - Is this an insult?

[SupperMan]

Culture 胖å* in Chinese - Is this an insult?

A close friend has been described as 胖å* (pang4-zi) which translates to fat person. How is this not an insult in Chinese? The person that wrote this explained that it can just mean a wise person of good character?
Thanks for answers thus far, however it still confusing?

 

[sayonara617]

It is usually an insult, unless you are proud of being fat.
It cannot mean a wise person nor a man of good character.

 

[Terry the Klown]

Those words can be insulting, but not all the time. If used right, it can just be a casual title for close friends.

 

[Elena S]

analogy of English Fatty...
can be the insult, can be just a nickname...