Chinese phrases you can use in the face-judging world

A pretty countenance can save a terrible performance, a bad outfit, an annoying drama, and pretty much anything else you can imagine—all solved with the benefit of a pretty mug. Thus, in a world obsessed with appearance and vanity, many cry out: "我对这个看脸的世界绝望了! (Wǒ duì zhège kàn liǎn de shìjiè juéwàng le! I can't see any hope in such a face-judging world!)" Usually, this phrase is used in a joking manner, with a sense of self-satire, as in: "我在微博上发了一张自拍照，结果丢了一大半粉丝! 我对这个看脸的世界绝望了! (Half of my followers left me after I posted a selfie on Weibo! I can't see any hope in such a face-judging world!)"

美丽的容貌可以挽救一场糟糕的演出、一身失败的衣着、一出恼人的戏剧。漂亮的脸蛋几乎可以解决所有的问题。因此，在这样看脸的世界上，很多人都表示：我对这个看脸的世界绝望了。通常来说，人们用这句话表示自嘲，例如：我在微博上发了一张自拍照，结果丢了一大半粉丝，我对这个看脸的世界绝望了！

A decent appearance and a refined manner are part of Chinese politeness, but it's always stressed that one should never 以貌取人 (yǐ mào qǔ rén), meaning "judge people based on appearance".

中国礼仪强调外表端庄、举止得体，但是它也强调不要以貌取人。

What a wonderful world it would be if anyone took that advice. However, today, many are 颜控 (yán kòng) or "face obsessed", dyed in the wool 外貌党 (wàimàodǎng), or "face-judgers", and proud of it. While 颜 and 外貌 all refer to appearance, 控 (kòng) comes from the Japanese word con, which in turn was borrowed from the first syllable of the English word "complex".

要是人们都听取了这个建议，那这个世界将会是多么的美好啊。但是今天，很多人都是"颜控"、"外貌党"，并以此为傲。"颜"和"外貌"都是指appearance，"控"则是来源于日语词汇"con"。"con"是日语借用英语单词"complex"的第一个音节。

If you say you are face obsessed, it suggests that appearance is what you value most in the world. Fans of pop stars who care little for their work or artistic merit are called 颜饭 (yánfàn, literally, a fan of face).

如果你说你是个"颜控"，这意味着在这个世界上你看得最重的就是_外貌。流行歌手都有很多粉丝。这些粉丝并不关注他们的作品及艺术价值，因此被称为"颜饭"。

When it comes to romance and relationships, the face-judgers' standard is simple: 我是个外貌党，找男友的唯一标准就是长得帅 (Wǒ shìgè wàimàodǎng, zhǎo nányǒu de wéiyī biāozhǔn jiùshì zhǎngdé shuài. Since I am a face-judger, the only standard for my future boyfriend is a handsome look). Also keep an eye out for another relevant phrase: 外貌协会 (wàimào xiéhuì), meaning "appearance club", which refers to a club consisting of face-judgers.

看脸的人找恋爱对象的标准很简单：我是个外貌党，找男朋友的唯一标准就是长得帅。此外，还有另外一个相关短语：外貌协会，指一群以貌取人的人。

For the not-so-pretty faces, love life is bleak in our mad, mad, mad face-judging world. For every romantic memory for high school or college sweethearts of the beautiful people, there's a sigh from the plain looking: "只有长得好看的人才有青春, 像我们这种人就只有上学。" (Zhǐyǒu zhǎngde hǎokàn de rén cái yǒu qīngchūn, xiàng wǒmen zhè zhǒng rén jiù zhǐyǒu shàngxué. Only good-looking people really experienced youth, all we had was going to school).

在这个疯狂看脸的世界里，对于那些没有漂亮脸蛋的人来说，爱情与他们无缘。只有长得好看的人在中学或大学时才有恋人，才有浪漫的回忆。留下相貌平平的人哀叹"只有长得好看的人才有青春，像我们这种人就只有上学"。

Translated from: theworldofchinese

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