I am looking for an apt description of the expression on this child's
face:

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s173/Maestro_50/baby.jpg

I don't think it is a pout, nor a scowl. "Unhappy" is too generic.
What is it? Disgust?
--
Maestro

ch.maestro@gmail.com wrote:
> I am looking for an apt description of the expression on this child's
> face:
>
> http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s173/Maestro_50/baby.jpg
>
> I don't think it is a pout, nor a scowl. "Unhappy" is too generic.
> What is it? Disgust?

Distaste?

ch.maestro@gmail.com wrote:
> I am looking for an apt description of the expression on this child's
> face:
> 
> http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s173/Maestro_50/baby.jpg
> 
> I don't think it is a pout, nor a scowl. "Unhappy" is too generic.
> What is it? Disgust?
>

A grimace?

On Oct 10, 1:18 pm, Paul Burke  wrote:
> ch.maes...@gmail.com wrote:

> A grimace?

Looking at that face again I get the impression that the baby is
crying or about to cry, suffering some discomfort or pain.

I didn't want you to get distracted but now I give you the full
picture from which that face was cut out:

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s173/Maestro_50/breast-feeding.jpg

Somebody -- outside this forum -- has suggested that some milk got
squirted into his eyes :)
--
Maestro

On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:45:11 +0200, "John of Aix"
 wrote:

>ch.maestro@gmail.com wrote:
>> I am looking for an apt description of the expression on this child's
>> face:
>>
>> http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s173/Maestro_50/baby.jpg
>>
>> I don't think it is a pout, nor a scowl. "Unhappy" is too generic.
>> What is it? Disgust?
>
>Distaste? 
>
The expression appears to be a "grimace":
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/grimace?view=uk

    grimace
    
    noun an ugly, twisted expression on a person's face, expressing
    disgust, pain, or wry amusement. 

In this case I think the baby might have been showing disgust, annoyance
or distaste. 

I think "wry amusement" is outside the repertoire of a baby.

-- 
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in uk.culture.language.english)

Peter Duncanson wrote:
> On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:45:11 +0200, "John of Aix"
>  wrote:
>
>> ch.maestro@gmail.com wrote:
>>> I am looking for an apt description of the expression on this
>>> child's face:
>>>
>>> http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s173/Maestro_50/baby.jpg
>>>
>>> I don't think it is a pout, nor a scowl. "Unhappy" is too generic.
>>> What is it? Disgust?
>>
>> Distaste?
>>
> The expression appears to be a "grimace":
> http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/grimace?view=uk
>
>    grimace

That's it. But as the OP asks further on, why?

>    noun an ugly, twisted expression on a person's face, expressing
>    disgust, pain, or wry amusement.
>
> In this case I think the baby might have been showing disgust,
> annoyance or distaste.
>
> I think "wry amusement" is outside the repertoire of a baby.

Hmm, I'm not so sure.

In article ,
  wrote:
> I am looking for an apt description of the expression on this child's
> face:
> 
> http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s173/Maestro_50/baby.jpg
> 
> I don't think it is a pout, nor a scowl. "Unhappy" is too generic.
> What is it? Disgust?

It looks like the baby has just been fed something extremely sour.
But I can't think of a single word to describe it.

Cheers
Tony
-- 
Tony Mountifield
Work: tony@softins.co.uk - http://www.softins.co.uk
Play: tony@mountifield.org - http://tony.mountifield.org

On Oct 10, 12:39 pm, t...@softins.clara.co.uk (Tony Mountifield)
wrote:
> In article ,
>
>   wrote:
> It looks like the baby has just been fed something extremely sour.
> But I can't think of a single word to describe it.

I see that photobucket has blocked the full photo to which I linked.
Better so, perhaps, as it would distract from the child's face, which
is all that I am concerned about.

I have received another suggestion: constipation. Of course,
constipation is not a description for a facial expression but I can
easily imagine a constipated child, sitting on the pot and squeezing
hard, making that face. A grimace, then. "Grimace brought on by
constipation" as a caption for the picture. No, better just "grimace"
and leave it to the viewer to contemplate its cause, like with Mona
Lisa's smile, which has led to much speculation.

I can also imagine the grimace being caused by the child's having been
fed something unpleasant. More likely, much more, even, than
constipation. With constipation, the mouth would be different, I
think.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ch.maestro/Maestro/photo?authkey=iyRrknB7nxY#5120277149128242338

Will people speculate about the cause of this grimace hundreds of
years hence, like people do today about Mona Lisa's smile? :)

ch.maestro@gmail.com schrieb:
> On Oct 10, 12:39 pm, t...@softins.clara.co.uk (Tony Mountifield)
> wrote:
>> In article ,
>>
>>   wrote:
>> It looks like the baby has just been fed something extremely sour.
>> But I can't think of a single word to describe it.
> 
> I see that photobucket has blocked the full photo to which I linked.
> Better so, perhaps, as it would distract from the child's face, which
> is all that I am concerned about.
> 
> I have received another suggestion: constipation. Of course,
> constipation is not a description for a facial expression but I can
> easily imagine a constipated child, sitting on the pot and squeezing
> hard, making that face. A grimace, then. "Grimace brought on by
> constipation" as a caption for the picture. No, better just "grimace"
> and leave it to the viewer to contemplate its cause, like with Mona
> Lisa's smile, which has led to much speculation.
> 
> I can also imagine the grimace being caused by the child's having been
> fed something unpleasant. More likely, much more, even, than
> constipation. With constipation, the mouth would be different, I
> think.
> 
> http://picasaweb.google.com/ch.maestro/Maestro/photo?authkey=iyRrknB7nxY#5120277149128242338
> 
> Will people speculate about the cause of this grimace hundreds of
> years hence, like people do today about Mona Lisa's smile? :)
> 
> 
Heii. i am from austria and i make a project do you write with me??

At 03:02:25 on Fri, 12 Oct 2007, ch.maestro@gmail.com wrote in 
:

>I have received another suggestion: constipation. Of course,
>constipation is not a description for a facial expression but I can
>easily imagine a constipated child, sitting on the pot and squeezing
>hard, making that face.

I don't think a child of that age would squeeze and strain that hard, 
not being old enough to know that it was expected to produce anything. 
(In fact, a small child about to poo adopts a blank, inward-looking 
facial expression;  those in the know can spot that expression and, if 
necessary, have time to take swift action if the child is nappiless.)

>I can also imagine the grimace being caused by the child's having been
>fed something unpleasant. More likely, much more, even, than
>constipation. With constipation, the mouth would be different, I
>think.

Looked to me as though the child had bitten into a lemon.
-- 
Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:02:25 -0000, ch.maestro@gmail.com wrote:

>On Oct 10, 12:39 pm, t...@softins.clara.co.uk (Tony Mountifield)
>wrote:
>> In article ,
>>
>>   wrote:
>> It looks like the baby has just been fed something extremely sour.
>> But I can't think of a single word to describe it.
>
>I see that photobucket has blocked the full photo to which I linked.
>Better so, perhaps, as it would distract from the child's face, which
>is all that I am concerned about.

I react differently to this removal of the full picture.

The original had the mother's breast on the left with the grimacing baby
on the right.

One possible interpretation is that the baby has recoiled from the
nipple and is grimacing at an unpleasant taste. Possibly the mother has
applied the *wrong* lotion.
 
Without the breast in the picture there is no way of knowing what the
baby may be responding to.

-- 
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in uk.culture.language.english)