Grimace
Similar to a grimace, grimace refers to a distorted, defaced face or face that is perceived as ugly and possibly frightening or its representation ( see also facial expressions ).
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The word is first attested by Martin Luther as a grimace in the sense of “antics”, “silly talk”, presumably synonymous with frasche in Italian (from frasca: “leafy branch” as a gift badge ). Today's meaning arose in the 18th century as an abbreviation from "grimacing face" as the "facial expression of a buffoon". Fratz has also stood for "buffoon" since the 16th century, later with the meaning "naughty, mischievous child".
Most of the time, "cutting a grimace" is perceived as ugly and serves to generate (joking) fear or apotropaic deterrence . Grimaceous heads ( envious heads ) were sometimes attached to gables in house construction in Europe in order to deter evil spirits, grimacing heads ( mascarons ) are mask-like decorative elements in architecture but also on weapons and furniture.
The word "grimace" also meant a (diabolical) truss up into the 19th century. In this sense, Goethe used it several times and emphatically in his Faust : In the first part , when the professor signs the devil's pact in blood and does not want to take it very seriously, he says: “Let it stay with the grimace.” In the second part , when Mephistopheles as a fool masked, it is said of him: "Gar he is precious frilly, / But fratzenhaft that everyone supports."
In a figurative sense, “grimace” is also used today for the harmful, deliberate effects of an ideology (“In the arms trade , capitalism shows its ugly grimace ...”; “The Gulag was the grimace of communism.” Etc.).
