多年前做傳譯工作時, 遇到這樣的內容:
「他5 呎8吋高, 瘦身材, 黑色短髮, 圓面, 黑皮膚, 好多鬚根。」
譯: He's 5 foot 8, of thin build with short black hair, a round face, dark complexion ... and... and... very unshaven.
「咁佢多啲鬚根定甲君多啲鬚根?」
譯: 
... ... ... (良久) Who looks more unshaven, he or Mr A?
哈哈, 有驚無險, 總算過關。
回想起來也替自己捏一把冷汗。「鬚根」英文已不會說, 還要「好多鬚根」, 最後更要比較誰的鬚根較多? 天啊! 為何老師當年只告訴我鬍子是 a beard , 唇上的鬍鬚（即「髭」）是a moustache, 為什麼不順帶教我「鬚根」英文是什麼？
我需要的字是：stubble，普通話叫「鬚茬兒」（xū chár)。
Stubble on a person's face is the unshaven hair growth that exists before it becomes long enough to cover the skin and be considered a full beard or moustache. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stubble, 9 October 2007.)
嚴格來說，having stubble 跟 being unshaven 不盡相同，有些人天生毛髮濃密，無論多努力，總不能刮淨鬍子(be clean-shaven)，還是滿臉鬚根，前萄葡牙國家球隊隊長費高（Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro，簡稱：Luís Figo，內地譯「菲戈」）可算是其中的表表者!
又有些人，無論如何unshaven，也只有零星幾點「鬚根」罷了。
↑認人用的膠片拼圖英文是identikit, 以下描述跟圖中男子像嗎? Early 30s, fair complexion (白皮膚), blue eyes, coloured hair, short dark stubble on otherwise shaved head.
(圖片來源: http://www.primaryict.net/ladymodifords/identikit/index.htm)
Sample sentences:
1. Unlike John, who's always clean-shaven, Peter appears with heavy stubble all the time.
2. Fred Flintstone displays permanent stubble. I've always wondered if that's because they didn't have electric razors back in the Stone Age.
3. Some men like to wear slight stubble called designer stubble to parties.
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Bella 學習小貼士
1. beard 和 moustache 是可數名詞, 前面要放"a", "his" 或 "the"; stubble不可數, 不可以說 "a stubble"。
2. 留意stubble 的搭配。動詞搭配是to have/grow/wear/sport/display stubble, 形容詞搭配可以是heavy/slight/long/short/permanent stubble。
相類網誌：「熱鍋上的螞蟻」英文怎樣說?
