Redefining Beauty重新定義美


​今日魚叔分享內容基於National Geographic《國家地理》2020年2月刊,91-115頁本期特別報道Redefining Beauty所寫。

Redefining Beauty重新定義美


Beauty,b-e-a-u-t-y,英文beautiful美麗的對應的名詞,美。What is beauty? 什麼是美?


For generations, beauty required a slender build but with a generous bosom and a narrow waist. 之前的幾代人,認為美須是身姿苗條,而胸豐滿腰纖細。


賞析

*build,b-u-i-l-d,作動詞表示建設,我們都很熟悉,作名詞可指人的體格,體型。slender,s-l-e-n-d-e-r,苗條的。這個詞還有個同義詞是slim,s-l-i-m。a slender build就是苗條的身材。


*bosom,b-o-s-o-m,指我們每個人都有的胸,胸部。能胸貼胸緊密擁抱的可能不是家人就是親密的朋友了,所以bosom friend就是指密友,a close friend。generous蠻有意思,我們都熟悉而且經常用的意思是慷慨大方的,而它還可以相當於large的形容詞,比如牛津詞典有個例句:The car has a generous amount of space. 這汽車的空間很大。a generous bosom就是形容人胸部豐滿。


*waist,w-a-i-s-t,指腰,腰部。形容腰細,用narrow,感覺也是蠻形象了。就好像拿著一雙手在量腰的寬度一樣,很窄的腰就是細腰了。


The jawline was to be defined, the cheekbones high and sharp. The nose angular. The lips full but not distractingly so. 下巴稜角分明、顴骨高挺、鼻樑端正,嘴唇豐滿而恰如其分。


賞析

*jawline,j-a-w-l-i-n-e,其實就是jaw下巴和line線條合成的,指下巴的輪廓。define,意思是定義,界定。defined放在名詞前面,當形容詞用,是形容某事物界限分明,比如 a clearly defined road 一條輪廓清晰的道路。


*cheekbone, c-h-e-e-k-b-o-n-e,同樣也是合成詞,cheek臉頰+bone骨頭,指顴骨。高挺的顴骨就是high and sharp cheekbones。


*angular, a-n-g-u-l-a-r,是angle角度的形容詞,我們說一張好看的臉龐,360度無死角。angular形容五官是指稜角分明的。angular nose,稜角分明的鼻子,一般指高挺的那種,如果是扁平的,塌的那種,跟臉都齊平了,那估計稜角不會分明。


*lip,l-i-p,嘴唇,full, f-u-l-l,意思是滿的,飽的,比如My room is full of books.我房間裡裝滿了書。full其實也可以形容人的身體或身體某部分肉比較多,比如full lips,就是指豐滿的嘴唇。但是要達到美的級別,再豐滿也不能厚到香腸嘴那種,那樣長在臉上就很扎眼,很容易把我們看眼睛鼻子的目光吸引過去。Distract, d-i-s-t-r-a-c-t,使分心,美要求The lips should not be so distractingly full. 嘴唇不能讓人那麼分心的豐滿。


The eyes, ideally blue or green, large and bright. Hair was to be long, thick, and flowing—and preferably golden. Symmetry was desired. Youthfulness, that went without saying. 明眸大眼藍或綠色最佳。長長的秀髮濃厚柔順,金色最佳。身材勻稱得當,正直青春年華自是不提。


賞析

*ideal, I-d-e-a-l,理想的,preferable, p-r-e-f-e-r-a-b-l-e,是由動詞prefer更喜歡變過去的形容詞,表示更可取的。這句話用ideally和preferably兩個副詞來修飾形容詞,強調大家注重的美,眼睛要藍色或綠色,頭髮要金色。


*Symmetry,s-y-m-m-e-t-r-y,對稱,desire, d-e-s-i-r-e,渴望。Symmetry was desired.指的是身材勻稱。殘障人士,比如缺了條腿,可能在有些人眼中就不會覺得美。勻稱才算美,這個倒也不是隻有對於人的身材才會有的執念。很多產品的設計為了迎合大眾的口味,也會追求對稱。


*youthfulness,由youth,y-o-u-t-h,年輕,加ful形容詞後綴,變成年輕的,再加ness,又變回名詞,指人有年輕這種特性。that went without saying,是很口語化的表達,指某事不用多說。


我們簡要回顧下剛聊到的短語和句子,以及以前大家對美的定義。

a slender build

a generous bosom

a narrow waist


For generations, beauty required a slender build but with a generous bosom and a narrow waist. 之前的幾代人,認為美須是身姿苗條,而胸豐滿腰纖細。


A defined jawline

High and sharp cheekbones

An angular nose

Full but not distractingly so full lips


The jawline was to be defined, the cheekbones high and sharp. The nose angular. The lips full but not distractingly so. 下巴稜角分明、顴骨高挺、鼻樑端正,嘴唇豐滿而恰如其分。


還有,

The eyes, ideally blue or green, large and bright. Hair was to be long, thick, and flowing—and preferably golden. Symmetry was desired. Youthfulness, that went without saying. 明眸大眼藍或綠色最佳。長長的秀髮濃厚柔順,金色最佳。身材勻稱得當,正直青春年華自是不提。


How about now? 現在呢,How do we define beauty nowadays? 現如今我們是如何定義美的?


The globalization of, well, everything means that somewhere out there is an audience that will appreciate you in all your magnificent … whatever. We are all beautiful. 一切事物全球化,意味著地球上總有一個人,能夠欣賞你的絕世,不管什麼樣的容顏。我們都很美麗。


The definition of beauty has continued to expand, making room for women of color, obese women, women with vitiligo, bald women, women with gray hair and wrinkles. 美的定義早已擴大,漂亮的女性可以不是白人,可以肥胖,可以臉布白斑或者皺紋,還可以髮色灰色或者禿頭。We are moving toward a culture of big-tent beauty. One in which everyone is welcome. Everyone is beautiful. Everyone’s idealized version can be seen in the pages of magazines or on the runways of Paris.我們的文化,將會包容一切美。每個人都倍受歡迎,都很美。每個人心中的理想美人或者帥哥都能在雜誌的頁面或者巴黎T臺上出現。


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