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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary
Vase? trophy wife?
Dear all,
I've been struggling to find a proper rendering for a Chinese fixed expression hua1-ping2 'vase' ??, a derogatory term referring to some unintelligent beauty, ex. a beautiful, sexy but incompetent secretary. The only related English phrase that came to my mind was "trophy wife," but I supposed, as the name suggests, it is restricted to "wives" only. However, I was looking for a more general English expression to describe a sexy but unintelligent female (usually with a negative connotation) as hua1-ping2 'vase' ?? in Chinese. Interesting enough, when I looked up the word 'vase' on Urbandictionary, it said 'a vase' or 'a ming vase' refers to someone who is seriously ugly. (lol) Interesting though, I also found out that it didn't seem to be widely used. So my question is that is it true that if we say someone is a vase, we mean that she is aesthetically challenged? If yes, where did this expression come from? Why is it related to the Ming vase? Also, What can we use to describle someone who has only face but no brain?
Thank you for your reply!
I've been struggling to find a proper rendering for a Chinese fixed expression hua1-ping2 'vase' ??, a derogatory term referring to some unintelligent beauty, ex. a beautiful, sexy but incompetent secretary. The only related English phrase that came to my mind was "trophy wife," but I supposed, as the name suggests, it is restricted to "wives" only. However, I was looking for a more general English expression to describe a sexy but unintelligent female (usually with a negative connotation) as hua1-ping2 'vase' ?? in Chinese. Interesting enough, when I looked up the word 'vase' on Urbandictionary, it said 'a vase' or 'a ming vase' refers to someone who is seriously ugly. (lol) Interesting though, I also found out that it didn't seem to be widely used. So my question is that is it true that if we say someone is a vase, we mean that she is aesthetically challenged? If yes, where did this expression come from? Why is it related to the Ming vase? Also, What can we use to describle someone who has only face but no brain?
Thank you for your reply!
Top answer
Not much help here! In the old days, "dumb blond" used to describe what you're talking about, since they were usually portrayed as blonds in the movies. These days you can't characterize anyone in a derrogatory way.
- Not much help here!
- In the old days, "dumb blond" used to describe what you're talking about, since they were usually portrayed as blonds in the movies.
- These days you can't characterize anyone in a derrogatory way.
- I hadn't heard the one about the vase, and don't know it's origin, but "ming vase" is an old and well-known term and obviously Chinese.
- But don't let me discourage you.
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9 Answers
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Not much help here!
In the old days, "dumb blond" used to describe what you're talking about, since they were usually portrayed as blonds in the movies. These days you can't characterize anyone in a derrogatory way.
I hadn't heard the one about the vase, and don't know it's origin, but "ming vase" is an old and well-known term and obviously Chinese.
But don't let me di
In the old days, "dumb blond" used to describe what you're talking about, since they were usually portrayed as blonds in the movies. These days you can't characterize anyone in a derrogatory way.
I hadn't heard the one about the vase, and don't know it's origin, but "ming vase" is an old and well-known term and obviously Chinese.
But don't let me di
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Bimbo may be good, but does it imply she's a bit easy? Or just dumb? I'm not sure.
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AvangiGosh, ladies, do you call each other these names??Only behind their backs!
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If you don't think that those of us with high IQs but looks that don't stop traffic don't have names for the girls who get where they are based solely on their ***** (when their brains would never make the grade), then you are quite naive.
It's not misogynistic call a spade a spade.
It's not misogynistic call a spade a spade.
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vase? Never heard that to describe a person.
My first thought was also bimbo.
My first thought was also bimbo.
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nona the britvase? Never heard that to describe a person.Might it be that a Ming vase looks good but itsn't of any practical value? Maybe "vase" is a confusion of "trophy bride", where the woman seems to be a bit more attractive than what the gent might normally be expected to attract, perhaps because of h
My first thought was also bimbo.
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