Lesson 40 Hair today

ポイント
I’ve often heard Japanese people incorrectly describe male facial hair in English by translating ヒゲ only as “beard.” But English has different words for different types of facial hair, as Hiroshi learns.

ダイアログ
Hiroshi: Hi Steve. Are you growing a beard?
Steve: No, just a goatee.
Hiroshi: Er, what? You have a goat?

解説
Steve has grown some hair on his chin and upper lip (like Atsushi from Exile). This is called a goatee because goats have hair on their chins. Note that a goatee also means hair only on the chin without hair on the upper-lip. A beard is hair all over a man's face. Hair on a man's upper-lip only (like) is called a moustache, which is pronounced “mus-tash.” For example, anime director Hayao Miyazaki has a beard, while former boxer Yoko Gushiken has a moustache.