face like the back end of a bus
- idiom
- Offensive
- When she woke up with no makeup, she joked she looked like she had a face like the back end of a bus.
Examples
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It’s rude to say someone has a face like the back end of a bus, so please be kind!
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He was so self-deprecating, often saying he had a face like the back end of a bus.
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He has a face like the back end of a bus!
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Why does she have a face like the back end of a bus?
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He often joked that he had a face like the back end of a bus whenever he felt unattractive.
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It's not polite to comment that someone has a face like the back end of a bus because it can hurt their feelings.
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She laughed and said she must have a face like the back end of a bus after seeing the unflattering photos.
Synonyms
A face so ugly that it shocks people
A face that looks very ugly
Looks very ugly and a little funny, especially in the face
Something that looks very ugly and unpleasant
Antonyms
- NSFW
19
3.2
The quality that makes people notice and like someone's looks or character
How Attractive
Surface Forms
Morphology
face + like + the + back + end + of + a + bus
The simile is compositionally transparent: a learner who knows 'face', 'back', 'end' and 'bus' can infer that the comparison likens someone's face to the unattractive rear of a bus, i.e. very ugly. This follows a common cross-linguistic simile pattern (X like Y) and does not require idiomatic knowledge beyond recognizing the insulting comparison.
Etymology
Face like the back end of a bus paints a picture of a face like the dirty, dented back end of a bus, which gets mud, scratches and marks from the road. So it is a rude way to say someone is 'very unattractive'.