Meaning:
“脸” means “face,” and “盲” means “blind.” While face blindness, also called prosopagnosia, refers to a neuropsychological condition that impairs the sufferer’s ability to recognize faces, the Chinese translation is not often used in its strict sense. As nowadays celebrities and actresses could look alike due to widely applied plastic surgery, people sometimes jokingly call themselves “face blind.” Some even label certain beauty pageants as “脸盲,” implying that the contestants look very much alike, making it difficult for people to tell them apart.
Example:
A: 这是什么选美比赛啊？怎么都长得差不多啊。
Zhè shì shénme xuǎnměi bǐsài a? Zěnme dōu zhǎng de chābùduō a。
What’s this beauty pageant? The contestants all look the same to me.
B: 这年头，不网红不脸盲的选美大赛很难找啊。
Zhè niántóu, bù wǎnghóng bù liǎnmáng de xuǎnměi dàsài hěn nánzhǎo a。
Nowadays, it’s difficult to find a beauty pageant where the contestants don’t look alike, and don’t have the typical “Internet celebrity face.”
Note: The “Internet celebrity face” refers to a small face with big eyes, a straight nose and a small chin.
(First editor: Debra Li)