Monday, March 9, 2009

Pretty vs. Beautiful

When describing people I have seen that many use the terms Pretty and Beautiful interchangeably. I have used distinct definitions of these words for many years and would like to show you how I use these terms to describe people:

Pretty
Ah, the pretty people. These are the ones that are also called "eye-candy" to me. They seem too good to be true and appear quite shallow in their attitudes towards others. I am not saying that people who look good are always the pretty ones— but rather those who are immature and appear to only be "what you see is what you get" types.
Beauty
It is said that "beauty is only skin deep"— but I tend to think of it as the opposite in that beauty is what is inside and not what is on the outside. People who have a depth of character are beautiful to me. I also feel that beauty is representative in how mature you are. If you have a mature outlook on life— then you have a beautiful way of seeing things.

One way of looking at the differences is through an alliteration— Pretty Petty and Beautiful Being. Those who are pretty are also petty— and those who are beautiful know how to just be.

18 comments:

Halftime Lessons said...

One more category...
Smokin Hot.
Maybe its just how my head categorizes things, I just needed one more header.

Petra a.k.a The Wise (*Young*) Mommy said...

Man, now I am concerned about all the times people have told me I am pretty...lol

Melanie Jacobson said...

I like this distinction, and I agree.

Claremont First Ward said...

I really enjoyed seeing how you view the terms pretty and beautiful. I agree with you.

Kristen said...

I like how you described the two.

I like your jelly bean background...I have been wanting some..I guess because Easter is around the corner.

Barbaloot said...

What's surprising to me is how many pretty people turn out to be beautiful once you get to know them.

It's easy to judge by appearances, but life's more worthwhile if you can avoid it:)

Dawn Parsons Smith said...

I just asked my 6 yr old daughter to tell me the difference between pretty and beautiful. Without missing a beat, she said, "pretty is out here (pointing to her head) and beautiful is in here (pointing to her heart!) Then the little cutie said, "you're beautiful, Mama." (wait...I know, very sweet..but there's more) Then she hugged me and said, "Can we go to McDonalds now?" while batting her eyes at me!

Anonymous said...

I really like how you described the difference between the two words and I couldn't agree more.

Lori said...

I like your explanation of these two words and have to agree with you. I have met people that are are pretty on the outside and I have gotten to know them and come to see them as beautiful or sometimes they become ugly to me because of how they act and treat people. I also know people, whom first meeting would not have called them pretty, but after getting to know them, it's like they become beautiful and even pretty.

Wendyburd1 said...

Geez now I feel like some people think I am petty, the beauty thing is so not me, blagh! How about okay-ish? What's the definition for that?

SweetPeaSurry said...

Gosh .. I feel kind of crappy that I'm such a shallow pretty girl.

Thanks man, thanks a TON!!!

I'm gonna go cut off my nose or something, and read some shakespear!

c ya!

SweetPeaSurry said...

add an e there, how about Shakespeare?

Much better ... see I'm less shallow already!

Debbie said...

In our family, we also use pretty to mean not exactly the smartest in the world!

in time out said...

Very nice post. Actually I always enjoy reading you. Everything you write.

If you get a chance to read a post written by my aunt and myself on Women Doing more I think you would find a lot of depth in it. Let me know what you think:

http://womendoingmore.blogspot.com/2009/03/anthony.html

Deb said...

oh i like that! i totally agree... i never got the whole "beauty is only skin deep" thing, i guess because i have always had a different interpretation of beauty (like you).

Aracely said...

Once again CJ, I'm going to have to put myself in both categories ;-)

Anonymous said...

i agree with what you said but on a funny note, hubby and i call the stuck up, well off, clique-y type ppl around here "The Beautiful People". it's not a compliment :)

Otter Thomas said...

I am reading this post from the future. Anyway this is a good take. Before now the only difference to me was that I did not like using the word beautiful. It doesn't sound manly enough.

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