Say What?
Yup. That's a cool looking tattoo, isn't it?Well, you wouldn't think it was so cool if you understood what it meant. This tattoo translates directly into "crazy diarrhea."
Yeah, I said it. Crazy Diarrhea. As in, "I ate at Taco Bell last night and it gave me Crazy Diarrhea." Only it's tattooed on this woman for eternity. Or at least until she can get it removed.
Apparently the new trend with Chinese or Japanese character tattoos is to get them removed because they mean something stupid. See a recent Fox News article on this phenomenon here.
Whether you like tattoos or not, you probably know that the first rule of tattooing is never NEVER GET SOMEONE ELSE'S NAME TATTOOED ON YOU. Tattoos are forever. Your boy/girl friend from 8th grade, is not.
The second rule of tattooing should be, DON'T GET SOMETHING ON YOUR BODY IN A LANGUAGE YOU DON'T SPEAK AND/OR READ. That means illiterate people should stick to pictures. But even literate people may think they're getting their "name" or "initials," but they're probably not. In the case of Marquis Daniels from the Dallas Mavericks, his "initials" turned out to mean "Healthy woman roof."
I'm part Taiwanese, and I've always wondered why people do this. I mean, I speak a little Chinese, and I wouldn't even THINK about putting such a tattoo on my body without my mom (the only person I'm pretty certain wouldn't lie to me about a translation) confirming the translation for me.
I do love it when people ask me to translate their tattoos. Even though I only read a little bit of Chinese (meaning almost none), I like to scare them:
Tattoo'd: Hey, you're Thai, right?
Me: No, I'm part Taiwanese.
Tattoo'd: Isn't that the same? Anyway, can you read this cool tat I got? I think it says "powerful love." I got it to represent my love for my dog.
Me: You think?
Tattoo'd: Well, that's what the Asian dude at the tattoo parlor told me.
Me: Are you sure he was Asian?
Tatto'd: Uh, I thought so, why?
Me: Because I think it says "I've got crabs."
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For grins, here are some other funnies I stumbled across while trying to avoid doing work and getting a hell of a kick out of the stories and pics:
(1) "Lost in Translation, Are You SURE That Chinese Tattoo Means What You Think It Means?"
(2) 20 KANJIS: Does your kanji tatto mean what you think it does?
(3) The Hanzi Smatter blog. My favorite on this site is the correct translation of NBA player Shawn Marion's "The Matrix" tattoo on his leg. (I should note that I I came across the Crazy Diarrhea situation in one of Hanzi Smatter's posts).
You were poisoned by Curare_Z at 6:22 AM
12 Death Spasms:
I once proudly wore a t-shirt which my friends Chinese lodgers translated as: "I have a small penis"
Ego crushed in a single moment. I won't ever try to be cool again.
Thanks for stopping by Christopher!! Of course you know that your friends might have been trying to be cool just by a making a feeble attempt at crushing your ego. I'm sure the shirt was not quite so derogatory. But, you can show them...wear a shirt that says "I have a small penis" in English on it. Then see what they say. ;-)
Who said us Asians didn't have a sense of humor???
Great stuff Curare.
I think that tattoo got transferred to me today; oy... :(
I've always wanted to get a St. Louis Cardinals tat on my bicep, but my pain threshold is lower than a snake's belly...
I have several tats but none in a foreign language for just this reason. But on the Kanzi tattoo that is supposed to say extreme change but actually says 'strange weird' suits me to a tee.
Hey boss... hey boss!
Um, or was that a different tatoo?
Phoneix: We Asians are a lot of things. Funny is certain one of those things. :-)
Bruce: LOL. Once the outline of a tattoo goes on it just goes numb, so it's not that bad.
Fuzz: I have two tats that I love, but hindsight being 20/20 I'm not sure I would've gotten them.
My Antidote: De Plane, De Plane! Welcome to Fantasy Island.
Oh, the horrors! I'm glad I didn't choose foreign letters/words for my tat!
Thanks for commenting earlier too!
Curare: I tried to get your name inked on me. I think, in retrospect, that I shoudl have clarified what I wanted.
It ended up translating as "SMELL MY PANTS!"
- david
GE: Thanks for stopping by! Sounds like you made the wise choice!
Amulet: It is only fitting for me to let you know that I would love to smell your pants. ;-)
(Sorry everyone...inside joke w/ Amulet...clearly)
If you are enough of a lemming to get something you don't understand tattooed just for the sake of a (supposed) cool point, a hidden insult or mangled gibberish is the very least you deserve. This is the only real life case where the removal of the evidence of a person's stupidity actually will hurt. (That part is actually pretty sweet).
I'd love to have indigneous peoples of various lands take a look at all of the supposed "tribal" tattoos that popped up about the same time as the kenzi craze.
(For the record, I have one beloved piece on my lower back, the dreaded "tramp stamp"...but I've yet to meet the person who'd dare calling me such a thing.)
Ella: I had never heard it called a "tramp stamp" before either. I know at least 20+ women with the dreaded "tramp stamp." Whatever. That guy had no idea what he was talking about.
But on the issue of tattoos that don't mean anything -- I hear you. It is sort of deserving, is it not?
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