神話裡的蛇髮姊妹
這是字的出發點：核心畫面本人。
noun · C1
In old Greek stories, a Gorgon is one of three monster sisters who had live snakes growing where their hair should be. Anyone who looked straight at a Gorgon's face turned into stone.
蛇髮女妖（戈爾貢）
核心畫面
One way to hold this word: a face you do not dare look straight at. In the old stories the hair is made of live snakes, and one look turns you to stone. Everything the word does later comes from that frozen moment in front of a face.
可以想成：一張你不敢正眼看的臉。故事裡那張臉長著活蛇當頭髮，看一眼就會變成石頭。所以這個字帶著的不只是「醜」，而是「…更多收起
可以想成：一張你不敢正眼看的臉。故事裡那張臉長著活蛇當頭髮，看一眼就會變成石頭。所以這個字帶著的不只是「醜」，而是「被嚇到動不了」。後來英文把同一張臉搬到現實裡，用來說一個讓人不敢靠近的女人。From the word’s history
Middle English gorgon, from Latin Gorgō, from Ancient Greek Γοργώ (Gorgṓ), built on γοργός (gorgós) meaning 'terrible'. The root already meant frightening before any snakes were attached to it.
這個字從古希臘文 Γοργώ 來，字根 γοργός 的意思就是「可怕的」，再經拉丁文 Gorgō、中古英文進入英文。也就是說，「可怕」是字裡本來就有的東西，蛇髮和石化是故事替它畫出來的畫面。
Wiktionary entry 'gorgon' (noun), kaikki extract source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1070604818, etymology_text supplied in the evidence packet
Two branches
搬到真人身上的罵人話
把那張「不敢看的臉」指向現實中的人；語氣上留下的是害怕和嫌棄，而不是蛇。
noun · C2
An insulting word for a woman who seems frightening or unfriendly to the speaker, and who the speaker also thinks is ugly. It is informal and is used mainly in British English.
母夜叉；兇婆娘