Can you "wear" a beard?

[PurrfectMoon]

Doesn't make sense to me. I was discussing this with a friend.

"He wore a full beard."

You can't "wear" a beard because it implies that it could be taken off. You can grow a beard, have facial hair, etc. but it doesn't seem right to read a sentence as he "wore" a beard. Unless its a fake beard. Right?

Your opinion?

And furthermore, I know you can write "The girl wore long hair" but you would never say "The girl wore hair". So, that should back up the fact you can't "wear" a beard.

 

[SamScribble]

Ah, language is a fun thing. Especially the English language. (Hey, isn't that why we gather here?)

So, I guess if enough people say 'He wore a full beard', then that's what he did: he 'wore' a full beard. And, quite possibly, he still wears it.

 

[PurrfectMoon]

lol, I just don't get it sometimes..

 

[xssve]

Of course you wear can wear a beard, and if you aren't Amish, you can also wear moustaches.

 

[PurrfectMoon]

*stamps foot* but... it doesn't make sense!!!

I hate that language is based upon majority rules..

 

[Boxlicker101]

All men have beards and all men choose how to wear or not wear their beards. Some men shave them off regularly and some let them grow wild and full and some men trim them in ways they prefer or are required to do. Just as a person might wear his or her hair long or short or in an Afro, or whatever, men wear their beards in the way they choose or that is chosen for them.

 

[PurrfectMoon]

So, would you say its "Wearing one" because the act of shaving would be removing it?

So in thinking that way, wearing facial hair is more of a style and less of a natural act.

Because you wouldn't say a women wears hair on her legs, or that she wore hair on her head.

You would use a style or a length or a color.

Like she wore her hair red that day, or she wore her hair in braids.

I guess I am looking for the difference, but I can't see it.

 

[SamScribble]

Like she wore her hair red that day, or she wore her hair in braids.
QUOTE]

I think 'she wore her hair in braids' is a good example of how language works.

 

[Stella_Omega]

So, would you say its "Wearing one" because the act of shaving would be removing it?

So in thinking that way, wearing facial hair is more of a style and less of a natural act.

Because you wouldn't say a women wears hair on her legs, or that she wore hair on her head.

You would use a style or a length or a color.

Like she wore her hair red that day, or she wore her hair in braids.

I guess I am looking for the difference, but I can't see it.

The difference is that most men these days don't wear beards. having one at all is a deliberate choice and noteworthy.

In fact, if you read early literature, an author won't say "he wore a beard" because most men did-- that was unremarkable. if the man shaved his face, that would be worth noting, or if it were a red beard, or bifurcated and braided like Jack Sparrow.

 

[PurrfectMoon]

Ah Thanks, stella! I think I get it..

We say "He wore it" because its become such an uncommon thing that to have one it's considered an personal option, not something that is just natural.

Society has changed the view on facial hair, which has changed the adaption of the word.

Ok, that reasons with my mind.

 

[oggbashan]

I wear a beard.

Sometimes, but rarely, I change its shape. I have to when I play Henry VIII because my normal beard has more hair on the cheeks than he wore. I shave my cheeks and use stage make-up to change its white to the reddish tone Henry had.

Trivia item: Royal Navy sailors don't grow a beard. They ask for permission to stop shaving. After three weeks, if in the opinion of their officer the result isn't satisfactory, the permission is withdrawn and the sailor has to start shaving again.

My brother did his National Service in the Royal Navy. While on a destroyer in the Mediterrean he asked for permission to stop shaving. After three weeks his officer was not wholly convinced that the result was acceptable but allowed it. At the end of his National Service he returned to the UK. His girlfriend, now his wife, didn't like the beard so he shaved it off. However his forehead and cheeks were sunburned and where his beard had been wasn't. He was piebald.

His girlfriend tried to conceal the different skin colours with foundation. After a few minutes they took it off because she couldn't match the tanned skin. They tried fake tan. In those far-off days fake tan was both semi-permanent and obviously fake. His face became brown and orange.

After enduring some ridicule from his (male) friends, he grew his beard again to cover the orange, assuring his girlfriend that it was a temporary solution. After a couple of months he shaved it off again but it was nearly a year before the skin on his face was a uniform colour.

Many years later he suggested growing a beard again. His wife's reaction deterred him. She said she approved of his younger brother's (Og) beard because it was a "proper beard" but her husband's beard had been unaesthetic. His face stayed bare.

 

[PennLady]

FWIW, I've often seen the phrase "He sported a beard." which looks weird now that I write it, but I have seen "sport" used to mean "wear" or "have on," if you just don't like to say "wear."

 

[michchick98]

Doesn't make sense to me. I was discussing this with a friend.

"He wore a full beard."

You can't "wear" a beard because it implies that it could be taken off. You can grow a beard, have facial hair, etc. but it doesn't seem right to read a sentence as he "wore" a beard. Unless its a fake beard. Right?

Your opinion?

And furthermore, I know you can write "The girl wore long hair" but you would never say "The girl wore hair". So, that should back up the fact you can't "wear" a beard.

But a beard CAN be "taken off" just as socks can be, or shoes, or a shirt, or pants, or...well you get the idea.

Just because it can't be "taken off" as frequently as socks or shoes or pants doesn't mean it isn't worn.

Think of it that way.

 

[sr71plt]

*stamps foot* but... it doesn't make sense!!!

I hate that language is based upon majority rules..

You expect English to make sense? Have you used it very much?

 

[lovecraft68]

I have never used "worn" or even sporting. Honestly when describing a male character it would pretty much "He had black hair, blue eyes and a neatly trimmed beard."

If anyone asks me to describe myself I say I "have" a beard.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Ah Thanks, stella! I think I get it..

We say "He wore it" because its become such an uncommon thing that to have one it's considered an personal option, not something that is just natural.

Society has changed the view on facial hair, which has changed the adaption of the word.

Ok, that reasons with my mind.

Ah! This art of prose, and of finding the perfect word.

You can have a beard. You can wear a beard. You can even sport a beard. Or you can just be bearded.

Each word has a subtle connotation. Wearing a beard implies a certain willfulness and intent. Someone who "wears" a beard has it by conscious choice, because you rarely "wear" anything by accident. You can have things by accident ("He has twelve toes"), but you don't "wear" them without intent ("He wears twelve toes."?) So "wearing" a beard connotes that he's making some kind of statement with it.

The implication of willful intent is even more pronounced in someone who "sports" a beard. Now the beard's something he's proud of and is probably pushing in your face.

 

[TE999]

I'm reminded of the joke in which a girl asks a Scotsman "Is anything worn under your kilt?"

"Why no, lassie. It's as good as it ever was."

 

[sr71plt]

Can't you even be a beard? (According to the Dictionary of Vulgar Tongue).

 

[3113]

Can't you even be a beard? (According to the Dictionary of Vulgar Tongue).

Indeed. If you are, say, a woman being used to hide a man homosexual orientation by pretending to be his sweetheart, for example--but what about the gay man who is doing the hiding behind that woman? Is he "wearing a beard"?

 

[Boxlicker101]

Indeed. If you are, say, a woman being used to hide a man homosexual orientation by pretending to be his sweetheart, for example--but what about the gay man who is doing the hiding behind that woman? Is he "wearing a beard"?

I don't think I have ever heard of a woman being referred to as a beard, but I suppose she could be. In your example, I don't believe she would be called anything slangy, except maybe a "fag-hag."

To me, this is a beard: A married man is having an affair with another woman and she wants to go out dancing or something. To keep the affair secret, they bring along an unmarried man who pretends to be the woman's escort, and he is called a beard.

 

[sr71plt]

Is he "wearing a beard"?

Maybe. He's probably also having a good time.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Indeed. If you are, say, a woman being used to hide a man homosexual orientation by pretending to be his sweetheart, for example--but what about the gay man who is doing the hiding behind that woman? Is he "wearing a beard"?

Only if he grew it. Growing a beard is an organic process that can only be prevented by certain somewhat drastic methods. Even if you shave cleanly, it still grows, provided depilation or estrogen treatments are not under consideration.

As Doc pointed out, a beard is a choice. You wear it the same way you wear clothes. A precisely trimmed and carefully shaved around iron jaw or Van Dyke bespeaks the sort of man who would likely wear suits, either bespoke or made-to-measure. A man who wears jeans with holes, a Che t-shirt and a baseball cap on backwards would likely have either a birds nest on his face or some ratty looking goatee. In either case, the facial hair is chosen to meet the persons' lifestyle. He 'wears his beard' the same way and in the same manner he wears his clothes.

 

[sr71plt]

As Doc pointed out, a beard is a choice. You wear it the same way you wear clothes. A precisely trimmed and carefully shaved around iron jaw or Van Dyke bespeaks the sort of man who would likely wear suits, either bespoke or made-to-measure. A man who wears jeans with holes, a Che t-shirt and a baseball cap on backwards would likely have either a birds nest on his face or some ratty looking goatee. In either case, the facial hair is chosen to meet the persons' lifestyle. He 'wears his beard' the same way and in the same manner he wears his clothes.

Or, like in my case, because, first, a stage role required it, second, it served to cover removed moles after surgery, and, the kicker, because I found it less of a hassle to maintain.

 

[Pure]

can't we say, "she wore a big smile"?

Merriam Webster Unabridged approves this use, and also cites this interesting example:

<wears the stamp of suffering on his face>

 

[jomar]

To my ear "wore a beard" sounds odd.

"He had a full beard" or "He had a handlebar mustache" etc sounds better.