汉语中有一句老话：“女为悦己者容”。这“容”字，意味着主动性——画眉点唇，即所谓化妆者是也（化妆需要化妆品，“化妆品” 译成英语，乃"cosmetic(s)”，请看：
1. cosmetic... n usu . pl a preparation such as a face-cream, body powder, etc. intended to make the skin or hair more beautiful:. . .
—LDCK
2. cosmetic (lit) : a preparation that is intended to beautify the skin, covering blemishes and giving a superficial appearance of beauty
—The Study of Current English , July 1976, p. 51
除了名词之外，还有形容词：
3. cosmetic adj . 1 . of, related to. or causing increased beauty of the skin or hair
不论是名词还是形容词，cosmetic(s)都可用于转义。以名词而论，如“street cosmetics”就是“市容”的天然英译：
4. We have to react to complaints, but it's only street cosmetics .
—The Atlantic , January 1977, p. 32
5. Frank is not worried about issues of public morality or street cosmetics, but he had hoped his plan would deal with legitimate nuisance complaints...
—The Atlantic , January 1977, p. 34
当然，如果还要“紧扣”，不妨把“市容”译作“city cosmetics”。 据LDCE的注释，用于转义的形容词“cosmetic”且含有贬义：
6. So far the“renovations” have been mostly cosmetic .
—Newsweek, August 15, 1983
7. cosmetic ... adj . . . 2 derog dealing only with the noticeable part of a matter or difficulty; intended To hide something bad
8. …Reagan... told a White House press conference, "What we want to be on guard for is having a cosmetic change in which they replace martial law with equally onerous regulations."
—Time, August 1, 1983, p. 8
上一篇：“一屁股债”的英译
下一篇：什么是“ toilet- train”?
微信公众号搜索“译员”关注我们，每天为您推送翻译理论和技巧，外语学习及翻译招聘信息。