英语里说“美丽是肤浅的”到底什么意思？

这句话经常用来暗示一个人拥有着光鲜亮丽的外表，却不一定能拥有充满品德的内心。

It is also used to say that a person may not be the prettiest to the eyes, but she may be very attractive because of her personality.

当然也可以用来表示一个人的外表可能并不是很出色，但是她却有令人欣赏的人格魅力。

It is common to hear the saying "beauty is only skin deep" in the United States. The saying exposes a tendency for individuals to judge one another primarily by their physical appearance.

在美语中，我们经常能听到这句话。这句话揭露了一种社会倾向，即以外貌判断彼此。

Doing this often leads to disappointment and surprise, as one person may judge another and be completely wrong.

一个人经常如此，就会感到失望和惊讶。因为以貌取人可能是完全错误的。

For example, a man may encounter a stunning woman in a bar, and he may draw a number of conclusions about the type of person she is.

例如，一个男人在酒吧里碰到一位妙龄女子，他可能就会从这位女子的外表来总结她是什么样的人。

Upon getting to know her, however, he may find that her negative characteristics are so dominant that they overshadow her physical appeal.

在和这位女子渐渐接触后，他可能会发现这个女子拥有十分的消极的性格，以至于让他忽视了她外在的魅力。

The idea that beauty is only skin deep can also be used to the opposite extreme.

当然，“beauty is only skin deep”也可以用于与之相反的例子。

There may be situations where a person's physical beauty is altered by aging, disfigurement, or other circumstances. Yet her positive inner qualities may remain the same.

在某些情况下，一个人的外在美会因衰老、毁容或其他情况而改变。而其积极向上的内在品质会永存于世。

There may also be instances where a person may have never been physically appealing, but upon getting to know her it is discovered that her inner qualities are more attractive than her physical appearance.

也有可能是一个人可能从来没有外在的吸引力，但在了解她之后，发现她的内在品质比她的外表更迷人。

This saying may be used when trying to communicate a number of lessons.

这句话可以用来交流一些经验教训。

In some situations, the person who says it may be trying to tell a person that his basis for judgment is flawed and he needs to look at qualities other than appearance.

在某些情况下，一个人表达“beauty is only skin deep”这句话时，他是想要告诉别人根据外表判断是有不足之处的，他需要关注的是外表以外的品质。

This expression may also be used when speaking to an individual who relies primarily on her beauty to attract attention.

这句话也可以用在与他人交谈的时候，而这个人总是依靠自己的外在美丽吸引别人目光。

The lesson in this case may be that appearance will help a person to only a certain degree. Beyond that, if she does not have other qualities, she is likely to have opportunities that appear to be opening initially but that she is unable to sustain.

这种情况下的教训可能是，外表只会在一定程度上帮助一个人。除此之外，如果她没有其他的内在闪光点，可能她会在一开始取得成功，但绝不会太长久。

As beauty is a word that is most commonly associated with femininity, the expression "beauty is only skin deep" tends to be most commonly used when talking about females.

因为美貌是最常与女性气质联系在一起的，所以在谈论女性的时候，“beauty is only skin deep”这一表达往往是最常用的。

It can, however, be used when referring to the differences between the outer and inner qualities of males. It is rarely, if ever, used when talking about animals or inanimate objects.

然而，当提及男性的外在和内在品质的差异时，也可以使用这种表达。但是在谈论动物或无生命物体时很少用到。

< 💊 >

编译妹子有话说

总说“好看的皮囊千篇一律，有趣的灵魂万里挑一”，我们渴望着、向往着遇到那样一些有趣的灵魂，他们就像生命里的萤火虫，纵使你觉得前途黑暗，也总会悄悄点亮你心里的那盏明灯。

之前读到过一句劝言，望与大家共勉：

家总要成，钱总要挣，奔走红尘，莫忘曾经是书生

家总要成，钱总要挣，奔走红尘，莫忘曾经是书生

↓

还有，别忘了看我们大学英语学习的公众号呀~

假期里也要坚持学习

关 于 本 文

• 编译：杨天羽
• 审核：李恩庆
• 来源：wiseGEEK

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