Our grins are not as simple as they seem. There are a myriad different ways to smile – and some of them can conceal some less than happy feelings.

我们露齿而笑并不像看上去那么简单。微笑有无数种不同的方式，而其中一些方式可能隐藏了一些不愉快的心情。

Of 19 different types of smile, only six occur when we’re having a good time. The rest happen when we’re in pain, embarrassed, uncomfortable, horrified or even miserable. A smile may mean contempt, anger or incredulity, that we’re lying or that we’ve lost.

在19种不同的微笑中，只有6种是在我们开心的时候露出的微笑。其余的是在我们痛苦、尴尬、不舒服、害怕甚至是痛苦的时候露出的微笑。一个微笑可能意味着轻视、愤怒或怀疑，也可能意味着我们在说谎或我们失败了。

While genuine, happy smiles exist as a reward for when we’ve done something helpful to our survival, the ‘non-enjoyment’ smiles are less about what you’re feeling inside and more about what you want to signal to others.

当我们做了对生存有帮助的事情时，我们会回以真诚、开心的微笑，而“不快乐”的微笑不在于你的内心感受，而更多地在于你想要向别人传达什么。

And here are 10 typical smiles:

下面介绍10个典型的微笑

 

The first steps to decoding this multi-purpose expression came from the 19th Century neurologist Duchenne de Boulogne. In all Duchenne went on to discover 60 facial expressions, each involving its own dedicated group of facial muscles, which he depicted in a series of photographs.

最先开始解读多种目的的表情的是19世纪的神经学家杜兴·布洛涅。杜兴总共发现了60种面部表情，每一种都需要活动其专用的面部肌肉群，而他也在一系列照片中描绘过（）。

In the most famous of these, an unlucky man has his face contorted into a broad, toothless grin. He looks idiotically happy, with his cheeks pushed up and crow’s feet around his eyes.

其中最有名的就是一名不幸的男子把他的脸扭曲成一个不露牙齿的咧嘴笑。他看上去像傻瓜一样高兴，脸颊上扬，都笑出了鱼尾纹。

It’s since become known as the ‘felt’ or ‘Duchenne‘ smile and it’s associated with genuine feelings of pleasure and giddy happiness.

自那以后，这种微笑也被称为“感觉得到的”微笑或“杜氏”微笑，而这种微笑与真正喜悦的心情以及傻乎乎的幸福感有关。

 

Though we don’t tend to associate smiling with feeling fearful in humans, there are some hints that the fear smile may have lingered on. In babies, a broad grin can either mean they’re happy or distressed and studies have shown that men tend to smile more around those considered to be higher status.

虽然我们往往不会把微笑与人类恐惧的感觉联系在一起，但恐惧的微笑可能也有着某些暗示。对婴儿而言，咧嘴笑可能意味着他们很高兴或很痛苦，研究指出男士往往会对着那些被认为是地位更高的人微笑。

 

The ‘miserable smile’ is a stoical grin-and-bear-it expression – a slight, asymmetric smile with an expression of deep sadness pasted over the top.

“痛苦的微笑”是一种克制着情绪并坦然地龇牙咧嘴的笑，也是一种在过度哀伤后露出的略微有些不对称的微笑。

 

The dampened smile is an attempt to control an automatic, happy one. Intriguingly, this discrepancy even stretches to the way smiles are typed: with a flat mouth and squinting eyes, as opposed to dotted eyes with a curved mouth. This ^_^ instead of this : ).

沮丧的微笑是试图控制无意识的情绪而露出的快乐的微笑。有趣的是，这种自相矛盾甚至延伸到网络上输入微笑的方式：扁着嘴并眯着眼的笑，与用点表示眼睛，用弧线表示嘴巴的微笑截然不同。也就是^_^这样的笑，而不是: )这种笑。

 

The ‘embarrassed smile’ is identical, though the two are easily distinguished – if not by the flushed cheeks, then the uncomfortable situation which usually precedes it.

“尴尬的微笑”（与沮丧的微笑）非常相似，虽然这两种微笑很容易区分，如果不是通过涨红的脸颊来判断，那通常就是通过不舒服的局面来判断的。

The ‘qualifier smile’ aims to take the edge off bad news, such as the receptionist’s smile who explains that the next available appointment is in a year’s time. It’s perhaps the most irritating of all the smiles, since it often traps the recipient into smiling back.

“装饰性的微笑”旨在缓和坏消息的影响，例如前台解释下一个可以预约的时间在一年后时露出的微笑。这可能是所有微笑中最让人愤怒的一种微笑了，因为它往往诱导着所对之人也微笑地回应。

 

The ‘contempt smile’ indicates a mixture of disgust and resentment and is disconcertingly similar to a smile of true delight, except for the corners of the lips which appear tightened.

“轻蔑的微笑”指的是一种混杂着厌恶和愤恨的微笑，与令人仓皇失措的、真正高兴的微笑相似，除了嘴角看上去紧绷绷的。

Translating roughly as ‘malicious joy’, schadenfreude is the thrill of discovering another’s misfortune. For obvious reasons, this mischievous emotion is best concealed from others.

（这种微笑）大致可解释为一种“怀有恶意的快乐”，幸灾乐祸就是当发现他人的不幸时感到兴奋的心情。显然，这种幸灾乐祸的情绪最好瞒着其他人。

This blended expression is just one of several smiles with a similar formula, such as enjoyable-contempt, enjoyable-fear and enjoyable-sadness.

这种混杂的情绪只是那些有着相似公式的几种微笑之一，例如享受别人遭到轻视时、恐惧时或悲哀时露出的微笑。

 

Thanks to Duchenne, it’s widely held that you can easily spot a fake smile by simply looking to the eyes – he believed that the eye muscle only contracts when we really mean it.

因为杜氏微笑的关系，人们普遍认为你可以很容易地通过看着一个人的眼睛来判断出虚假的微笑。杜兴相信，只有我们真的想笑的时候，眼部肌肉才会收缩。

Most of us have a lot of practice. Since smiles tend to accompany greetings, we’re used to politely lying about our true feelings – saying we’re fine, even when we’re not – with these expressions fixed on our faces.

我们多数人都做过大量的（微笑）练习。因为微笑往往伴随着问候，我们习惯于礼貌地隐藏我们真正的心情，甚至在我们不好的时候，都在脸上挂着这样的表情说着我很好。

 

Psychologists have known for decades that Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece captures an act of flirtation. The Mona Lisa smile is often described as enigmatic, but it’s actually a classic ‘flirtatious’ expression.

几十年来，心理学家就已经知道，莱昂纳多·达芬奇的杰作抓住了调情这种行为的精髓。蒙娜丽莎的微笑往往被描述为神秘的微笑，但实际上，这是一种典型的“轻浮的”表情。

So the next time someone tells you to ‘smile’, remember – it’s up to you which one you choose.

所以下次有人告诉你要“微笑”的时候，要记住，选择哪种微笑就由你自己决定了。