about-face 不是“关于脸面”的意思

字面意思很像是一个面子问题。但来看下这个最近出现在NYT 里的场景

The decision, announced by FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, was an abrupt about-face by Qatar, and the latest flash point...

首先根据场景可以看出来这是一个名词。前面有个abrupt，所以上下文的意思哪怕勉强下，也很难推出来和面子有关系.

查下字典会发现是“彻底转变”的意思，也有“向后转” 的意思。它的英式英语的表达可能更为直接些：about-turn.

两个单词是一个意思，所以这个about-face 其实是face 的方向调转了的意思。

另一个来自于NYT 的例句

His statement was an about-face. National and international campaigns on the Internet and via Twitter had failed to convince Mr. da Silva to... 他的声明来了个彻底的转向...

来自于Economist 的一个例子(虽然是个英国杂志，也是用了about-face 这个表达啊) ... as for Brazilian cars, in 1990 the president, Fernando Collor, dismissed them as “carts”. That led to another about-face. Brazil re-opened its borders, joined the World Trade Organisation in 1995 and accepted international intellectual-property rules. ...这就带来了另外一个大转变...

说到了“脸”，再分享一个和“脸”有点关系的表达： “厚脸皮” 怎么说？

看下这个来自于NYT 的句子

''I can't believe she has the gall to even ask,'' Mr. Jakovac said.

这个句子有些类似“我不敢相信她还有脸问”的意思。

所以 “厚脸皮” 就是 have the gall 事实上这正是字典给的解释

其他来自于NYT 的例句

''I would punch someone in the mouth that told me I'm a liar and everything I did was not true,'' Powell said. ''How dare they have the gall to take away something people worked so hard for. If one or two who are guilty get by, I'd rather have that than have 25 people condemned who are innocent.''

gall 这词原意是胆汁的意思，所以have the gall 字面意思是有胆子；但这个胆子显然不是courage 勇气的这种胆子，而是一种厚脸皮的胆子，所以have the gall 引申出了上面看到的这个意思。

多读，多积累。