User Panel
Posted: 6/14/2004 3:11:22 PM EDT
Foreign Language Tattoos, especially those not using our alphabet, intrigue me. I have seen tattoos in Chinese, Sanskrit, and Greek characters. I guess these folks have deep, deep trust in the artistic and linguistic skill of their inksmiths!
Tattooed person: "That's my name in Chinese." Chinese person: "Your name is Furry Grinding Wheel?" TP: "That's a description of my animal avatar in Sanskrit. 'Lone Wolf.'" Sanskrit speaker "No, it says 'Loan Golf.' See the little curls here and here?" TP: "It's Luke 22:36, in Greek." Greek Person "Actually it says 'Boarhog my ass but good, and don't spare the spurs, daddy-o.'" Seriously, what would possess a person to have himself permanently marked with a word or phrase in a language and alphabet unknown to him? Are tattoo artists just inherently trustworthy people, or are their customers for some reason willing to run the risk that if they ever go to Moscow, they'll be displaying to the locals a neck tattoo reading "SpermBurper?" |
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People confuse permanently marking their bodies with buying a piece of jewelry. Dumbasses all.
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Reminds me of the UserFriendly cartoon
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20040601 would have made it a link but wasn't sure if this crossed the line about linking to a commercial site. wganz ¶ |
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Same here Top! Semper Fi. |
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Allow me to clarify: I am not knocking tattoos generally, although they aren't my cup of tea. I am simply puzzled by all the people I see who wouldn't know Chinese food from a Chinese laundry who have what they think is "De'Antay" or "Shamikra" or "My Word is My Bond" or "Aryans Rule" or "Live to Ride, Ride to Live" tattooed somewhere on their persons in Chinese (or whatever). I can see exceptions - MOLON LABE, for example, is fairly readily verifiable from unbiased sources - but I guarantee you most of these people say "I want 'Mike and Buffy Forever' in hieroglyphics on my right calf," the inksmith flips thru a book and picks characters (neat trick since hieroglyphics & chinese aren't phonetic) and takes his best (or most humorous) shot. The guy leaves with a permanent reminder of (a) his transient love for Buffy or (b) his gullibility and his fondness for bratwurst.
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I have a tattoo, so I aint knocken 'em. I guess I missed my chance to get my face tattoed with some asian language, since I'm not getting any more. Perhaps someone with one will fess up and let us know what the significance is, cuz I am curious too.
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I had a girlfriend who had the Pythagoreum Theorum tattooed on her lower back. Took me about an hour to work it out!
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cheese grater and a strong stomach? |
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Belt sander. |
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My husband reads chinese so when we see someone with a Chinese character tattoo I always ask him to read it for me. I swear, 9 times out of 10 he tells me he can't read it because it is poorly written. He can usually guess what they were trying to say but he says the symbols are wrong.
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It's the whole asian mysticism thing. They're "new age". It's kinda cool to see tattoos people choose. I got a hijack: What do you tell people when you get asked, "What does that mean?"
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__________________ |
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Here's one link tattoo.about.com/cs/articles/a/buyer_beware.htm
I was searching for a story I read in the last year that told of this exact occurence, and it is not rare, or as innocent as the above article speaks of. Some asian tatto artists become disgusted with the disregard for the language and culture that many americans have when they come in and just want some cool tattoo. Going from memory, one girl came in and asked for the word "princess" to be done. A few months later she was jogging past some asian students who burst out laughing as she passed. Turns out she was permanently labeled "prostitute". I wish I could find the article because it was good. The problem is bad enough to get into the news. |
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If you want somethign written on you with permanent ink, I'd think anyone who is not a moron would look up the calligraphy themselves and bring it to a tattoo parlor that can do it off a tranparency or photocopy.
If I wanted a tattoo in the Viking runic script (the futhark) for example, I sure wouldn't trust some stranger I'd never met to know how to write it, or even to look it up for me - I'd do it myself. |
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They are called "ninja symbols" and even the tattoo artists make fun of you after they take your money and you leave. It's fucking stupid. Right up there with all the solid black "tribal" bullshit that people get in random designs (think goldberg's tattoo).
I have no idea why whitebread Americans want to get tattoos that represent cultures that they have nothing to do with. It is the absolute worst in the "me too" tattoo culture. If you have a ninja symbol, you are by definition a sheep. Period. I could vaguely see getting a Viking rune if your family is truly of nordic descent, but even that would be dangerous. I have several books about runes and some of them do not agree on the shapes and meanings. and before any of the sheep wander in and get upset, I have 9 tattoos myself. All original pictures, no "tribal" and no ninja symbols. |
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I dont get it. I have seen a few tattos that are stupid that people has. My cousin has a FATBOY tatto. I also know someone who has some kind of Chinese characters on them.
I used to know someone who did tattos but they moved otherwise Id ask them where they got the characters. I dont have any tattos, well other then the ones that mark me as someones bitch. But those are for protection. |
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By definition, the tattoo provider (artist? <LOL>, ymmv), is smarter than the person getting the tattoo.' In this situation, as with most, it is better to give than to recieve. |
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Or hopefully atleast more sober. But Im sure thats not always the case. |
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Miss Magnum? She got one on her lower abdomen meaning "Faith"? ....Now if she can put another one right in front saying "Blind"....."Blind Faith" Okay..Okay...I was only joking there MM. No I don't have any. Maybe someday I would joint the Yakuza and get some tattoo done. |
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My friend did the same thing. I think tattoos are a whole lot cooler if there is a little mystery left to them, or it is a design you've never seen before. |
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I have two kanji symbols tattooed on my arm that I hope stands for "Air Force". Probably means "Donkey with no brain."
...no, they really stand for Air Force. |
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since I have never met you, I have to ask, are you asian? |
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Yeah, he's a blonde-haired Asian--they are very rare and special. Hey, Sweep, does Kanji-land even HAVE an air force?? |
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Uh-Oh.....Those tattoos really meant only one thing "Donkey with no brain" |
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Hai! Boku wa nihonjin desu! j/k blonde haired. blue eyed American of Scottish decent that learned the Japanese language while I was stationed there for 8 years. |
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Nope. I looked them up. I have a Kanji dictionary that's as thick as a cinder block. There are around 40,000 Kanji symbols, each of which are a complete word when used in China. But the Japanese use about 2,500 or so in combination with their own alphabet known as Hiragana which has 46 characters that are sounds only. They also add " to the top of them to change the pronuciation of the symbol, i.e., add " to the ka symbol and it becomes ga. So I wasn't about to put something on my arm that I wasn't absolutely sure I knew what it meant. |
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Have you ever shown it to a native speaker to see what they think. From what I understand, putting one symbol next to another can change the meaning completely. I'm also curious, if you are of scottish descent, why not a scottish tattoo? What is the facination with a culture that you have no connection to? To me it's right up there with white kids wearing crooked hats and pants 7 sizes too big. |
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I was always fascinated with Japan when I was a kid. Even had a Japanese pen pal for about 8 years. Lived there for 8 years in the Air Force but came to the realization that there was no way I could live there as a civilian. ...and I own a kilt and wear it. |
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No they don't Sweep....Not the French F1 Mirage. I would check out those tattoos if I were you. |
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Uh, yes they do. They also just happen to fly F-15's and F-4's. But being on several Japanese bases I saw more F-1's than I did F-15's or F-4's. www.usinternet.com/users/mitch/t2k/html/japan.html |
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Well son of a bitch! Where the hell did I get the idea they bought those damn things from the French? |
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I hope you don't have any tattoos in french...... |
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Well anyone who doesnt do a little research about what theyre getting tattooed on their body in a different language is an idiot.
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Well what the hell can I say. I was really never into the Japanese pussified watered down Self Defense Force and I guess because I think of the Japanese along the lines of the French I connected the two some how.
...and even though I know for a fact, what those kanji symbols on my arm mean, no one here would even know the difference. |
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That's okay Sweep....I wasn't in the AirForce either but I slept at the Holiday Inn Express last night.
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The last I was stationed in Japan a discussion about this came up with my Japanese Interpreter. The Japanese often wear shirt with English on them, but the English often doesn't mean a thing or in such bad grammar an English speaker couldn't understand it. I ask the interpter why they did that and she told me they think the same thing when they see Americans with Kanji tattoos, that most the time the tattoo's are gibberish that doesn't mean a thing.
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