Not so easy on the eyes
A lot of phrases in English are understatements, as if we don’t want to commit too much to what we’re saying. One of them that springs to mind is easy on the eyes, which is another way to say someone is good looking, sexy, beautiful.
In Chinese, there is the opposite. The word they use for ‘ugly’ is 难看 (nánkàn), which is, literally, hard to look at. Ouch. The Japanese also have the word バックシャン (bakku-shan) for someone who appears hot from behind, but not from the front.
Do you know any other interesting phrases for someone who’s not so easy on the eyes?
*Note: looking up ‘ugly’ on Google Images isn’t really that good of an idea.
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Layinka said,
January 27, 2012 @ 7:19 am
I am learning Mandarin and I just listened to a conversation between a husband and a wife. Wife says: Husband get me new phone. Husband: your phone is new. Wife: My phone is not good to look at: …Bu hao kan, meaning it’s ugly. It made me laugh then choke. I love it.
in French you can say (informally) ‘moche comme un cul’ as ugly as my bum bum (very nice way of translating it). It would be the equivalent of ‘fugly’ in English slang.
Thanks for sharing. xx Layinka