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30 People Who Can Read Japanese/Chinese Share The Most Idiotic Tattoos They’ve Ever Seen
Getting a tattoo is a serious decision: you want it to look great and to reflect your inner values. So it’s natural that you want your tattoo design to come out perfect. However, tattoos in foreign languages sometimes have a tendency to… backfire. Especially if they’re in Chinese or Japanese and you don’t happen to know either language!
When one internet user asked Redditors who speak the two languages what was the biggest translation fail they’ve seen tattooed on someone was, the floodgates opened. Scroll down for the best of the bad tattoos and get ready to giggle like a gaggle of geese. Remember to upvote the stupidest tattoos!
Bored Panda spoke to Japanese language expert and member of the VMU Japanese club Hashi Kotryna Kvietkauskaitė about foreign language tattoo ideas. Read on for our exclusive interview and some great advice to keep in mind if you ever plan to get a tattoo with Japanese or Chinese symbols!
We’re also pretty sure that you’ll want some more hilarious dumb tattoo stories after reading this list. So be sure to check out our earlier article about people who are fluent in Chinese or Japanese sharing tales of the worst tattoos they’ve seen.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I (27F don't understand Chinese/Japanese) have the characters for "Strawberry" on my shoulder. Was at a gym changing and gal 1 who could read the language says "Oh! Strawberry! I love your tattoo". I explained why I had gotten the tattoo (long story involving strawberries) and gal 2 overheard our conversation. Gal 2 says "I have a tattoo that means "wisdom" and shows us; gal 1 says "... that says Turtle". Edit: here is the story behind the tattoo! My grandmother passed away of bone and lung cancer in 2010. I bought frozen strawberries a few weeks later to make smoothies in the morning, and the smell of those frozen strawberries transported me back to my childhood when I would eat frozen strawberries from her freezer. She used to pick SO many and make jam etc etc but I would pick strawberries to snack on instead of ice cream. After she had passed I decided to get a tattoo, and was thinking of a strawberry with ice crystals around it or something. I went for (American) Chinese food with friends and was telling them about my tattoo idea. When it came time to break our cookies and read our fortunes mine read "to remember is to understand" which I thought was cool, had been remembering and thinking of my grandmother over the last month or so since she had passed. When I turned over the fortune, the "chinese word" was strawberry. I've never seen 6 people turn white so quickly. I decided to get the chinese symbols for strawberry that day, and I still have the fortune in a special box at home.
Ken Murray 5 years ago
Saw a Tv personality on air one day - she got her Chinese tattoo and wanted it to say Tough Love - later she found out the translation was - Rough Sex
Phoebe Bean 5 years ago
At least this person got that tattoo right. And "turtle" is not that bad either...
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 5 years ago
I like turtle.I don't like the wisdom, courage tattoos that everyone gets.
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Online Quran Tuition 5 years ago
Wow.what a nice article I ever read.Thank you so very much for sharing such a good article.
RELATED:
#2
Saw a pretty tatted up guy one day with some Chinese markings on his forearm, asked him what they meant and he said "just a bunch of random Chinese letters", to which I inquired, "which ones?" and he corrected me, saying "no, it says - "just a bunch of random Chinese letters" Thought it was pretty slick
Leslea Freeman 5 years ago
Reminds me of my cousin who named her cat "Askim". When anyone would say..."Oh what a cute cat you've got. What it's name?" Of course my cousin would say "Askim"!! And this would take a couple of times before the person would realise that was his name!
Lily Mac Dennard 5 years ago
hate to admit it, but chinese doesn't have letters. unless of course it was pinying
#3
Guy had "変態外人" on his arm, said it meant "Lover of Asian Beauty" when in fact it means "Foreign Pervert"
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
As an East Asian woman who is sick of being chased by creepy white guys with Yellow Fever... This made me *LOL*!!! ;D (I don't mean I would never date a white guy. I'm just sick of those white guys who are ONLY interested in me for my Asian-ness, whatever-the-frack-stereotype that means to them!) #NotYourMagicPixieAsianGirl
SykesDaMan 5 years ago
When you think about it, it's the same thing, just from two different points of view! :D
Christina Uhlir 5 years ago
It sure is from a very different point of view.
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Living_Shadow 5 years ago
Sounds as if the tattoo artist got offended by the request xD I mean it is kinda weird
While Kotryna said that she has yet to personally see a similar tattoo in real life, she’s read plenty of similar stories on the internet. According to her, if a tourist visits Asia and gets a tattoo that turns out to be dumb or a random string of words, it’s usually the visitor who’s at fault.
“The person in question might have done something to offend the tattoo artist. Either that or they’re so convinced of their own personal interpretation of what the symbols mean that the tattoo artist feels helpless to ask if the person understands what the tattoo really means,” Kotryna told Bored Panda.
#4
My uncle has "Egg Drop Soup" tattooed on his wrist in Mandarin. He tells everyone it means something different (strength, destiny, etc.) but he got it so that he can go to the Chinese place when he is super hungover. He wears shades and noise-cancelling headphones, points to his wrist and is able to stay in his happy place while getting his favorite hangover meal. And yes, he was hungover when he got the tattoo.
#5
Friend of a friend- wanted a tattoo that said “Bad Ass”. It translated to “ evil butt”.
Carol Emory 5 years ago
People seem to not remember that what makes the English language so difficult to learn is the heavy use of slang words. Not all cultures have these kinds of phrases. So when you are looking to have an English slang term translated into another language for a tattoo..you may not get exactly what you're looking for.
Karen Klinck 5 years ago
English, to quote H. Beam Piper, was made by Norman men-at-arms trying to make dates with Saxon barmaids, and is no more legitimate than any of the other results.
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SykesDaMan 5 years ago
I always wondered about the origins that lead to "no good butt" meaning tough... I see I'm not the only one it seems! :)
#6
My mom is from Japan, and she used to point out tattoos to me all the time. I don't speak Japanese myself, so I can't give the exact translations or characters. She told me one of the biggest mistakes people make is when they pair two characters together, without checking what the characters mean as a group. They assume that the characters maintain their original meanings no matter what's alongside them. There are two examples I remember really clearly: (1) a woman with characters like "sexy" and "woman". What it actually said was whore house. (2) a dude with "sex" and "freak" on his chest, which actually meant something along the lines of predator or pervert. She'd see the tattoos and just immediately start giggling. Memories. :,)
nanashi 5 years ago
Kanji/Chinese characters are not similar to the English/Latin alphabet. they are called 'characters' instead of alphabet for a reason.
Snowy Tundra 5 years ago
I have a pet peeve that I guess is in the same vein as grammar nerd. It irks me to see people write "symbols" when it should be "characters". I took a couple quarters of Japanese for work 15 years ago. I don't remember very much, but I do know that Hiragana and Katakana are syllabaries, not alphabets. Those, along with Kanji, are characters, not symbols. Apologies and correction requested if I am in error.
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Bobby Clemente 5 years ago
Whorehouse in Jpnese is 売春宿 (baishunyado) or 娼家 (shouka) or slang, 赤いバラ (akai bara or red rose). You can't make "sexy woman" out of that. The tat must've sounded like the name of a whorehouse. Sexy is セクシー (sekushii) or 色っぽい (iroppoi).
Jace 5 years ago
Too bad you didn’t learn your mother’s native language. You could be similarly entertained. It would have to have started when you were a child... I mean, learning two full sets of phonetic characters, and 10,000 kanji just to be literate ... wow!
Bobby Clemente 5 years ago
10,000? No. To read a newspaper you need to know 1,800~2,000.
Load More Replies... Paul Brians 5 years ago
On the other hand, when I was at the Great Wall, I saw a dignified grandmother with her family, wearing a t-shirt that said in English: "Spit on 'em till they drown!"
Jeff Requier 5 years ago
From a country that invented the school girl panty vending machine and Hentai
She had some useful advice for anyone who’s thinking of getting a tattoo in any foreign language (especially Japanese and Chinese). “Find a friend who knows the language. Let them check the meaning of the words or phrases you want to get tattoos of, whether they mean what you think they mean.”
Kotryna added: “Not all tattoo artists in the West know Asian languages and they might not be able to tell you that a particular phrase isn’t correct.”
“Asian languages, especially Chinese and Japanese, work differently than we’re used to. Two words combined together don’t always mean what you think,” she said, referring to Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” tattoo that actually means “Barbeque Grill.” Ariana later unsuccessfully tried to fix the tattoo and it now says "Japanese Barbeque Finger."
#7
Learning Japanese, but I saw someone bragging about a tattoo on their wrist in public being ‘deep’ and ‘meaningful’. It was in katakana, which I can read, so I carefully glance at it as I walk by. It was ‘ケロ’. As in ‘kero’. That’s the sound a frog makes. They just tattooed ‘ribbit’ onto their wrist.
Daria B 5 years ago
Bokegaeru did it again! They're planning to rule the world by marking poor stupid Pekoponjin with their secret messages! (Kerokerokerokerokerokerokero~~~~)
Katinka Min 5 years ago
Nothing wrong with tattooing ribbit on your writst, I think it's hilarious. But that they think it means something deep and menaingful is just hyysterical.
Nagawa (Cofa) Kishiki 5 years ago (edited)
Just add two dot to the first character and it become the sound of vomit. Deep indeed.
Bernice Leung 5 years ago
it reminds me of a japanese song i learnt back in grade one and the whole song was variations of frogs croaking
#8
The four elements tattoo with "Dirt, hot, blow, wet" was pretty funny.
Sara Kangxia 5 years ago
Dirt, Hot, Blow, Wet. Long ago the four nations lived in harmony until everything changed when the Hot Nation attacked.
The Shadow 5 years ago
Fun Fact: The Chinese actually believed in FIVE elements; air was replaced with wood and metal.
Bettye McKee 5 years ago
I like that translation of earth, fire, wind and water. It seems more honest.
#9
It wasn't a tatoo, but I knew a girl who stitched some japanese symbols onto her bathrobe "just because they looked pretty". Translation was "Tokyo fire department"
Phoebe Bean 5 years ago
Well, after reading the previous posts, this is not a horror story. This one is very funny!
Id row 5 years ago
Similar to the crazy English text on t-shirts that Asian people wear who don't speak the language. c**p-your-...5b7ed9.jpg 
#10
Young white people getting tattoos of Asian symbols Young white people getting tattoos of Asian symbols that they think they know the meaning of, but really don't. White guy who speaks Chinese here. I've perfected the tactful question: "what does your tattoo mean to you?" A sample of the tattoos I've actually seen on real people: 真实 - "authentic/actual." Dude's response "keep it real." 演 - "perform." person's response: "dragon." 操 - "f**k." Person's response: "beauty." 混蛋 - "moron." Person's response: "it's my name in Chinese." 鸡 - literally "chicken," but figuratively "hooker/prostitute." Person's response: beautiful woman. 富达而立克 - "Frederick." Person's response "It's my name." Me: "Fred?" Him: "what?" 生命 - "living/biological." Person's response: "Destiny." 能 - "to be able to." Pronounced "nung." The person thought it was 龍 - "dragon." Pronounced "lung." ...and my personal favorite: 我从来没有毕业高中 - "I never graduated high school."
Electric Ed 5 years ago
You can just hear the dialogue between the artist and customer...
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Ava Pickrel 5 years ago
"I never graduated high school" That's amazing Truly amazing. Also I can't help but wonder what poor "Fred" felt like if he knew the truth.
(((Sherlocat))) she/her 5 years ago (edited)
keep it real => authentic / actual? That actually sounds alright to me! It's probably the closest linguistic approximation of that phrase.
C.S. 5 years ago
that's the lost in transition part. You say bad a*s, that culture doesn't have term, so you literally have to use the most translatable words. bad=evil, dishonest, sin, etc a*s=donkey, mule, butt, etc. You're rolling the dice. i.e. you want a tattoo that says "COOL DUDE!" could be "cold man" or like I have a tattoo that says yeah, buddy! other ways you could use that in translation. yes, friend! affirmative comrade! Sure companion!
Sherlocat (she/her) 5 years ago
I think 'badass' => 'evil buttock' has to be one of my tops faves here, haha! ;D There was also 'sweet babe' => 'sugar baby' - lol! (not that there's anything wrong with being a sugarbaby if you want to, but it's probably not what she was going for...)
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Mateusz R. Orzech 5 years ago
生命 makes slightly more sense in Japanese: "life/existence". 能 - this one is not so embarrasing in Japanese too, as one of the meanings of this kanji is "gift/talent", the person can also say that is a very big fan of noh theatre. 操 - this one is interesting, since in Japanese one of this kanji's meanings is "faithfulness" (but only woman's to a husband) or "chastity" (also woman's), so it's the opposite of the Chinese meaning it seems.
Jace 5 years ago
Google Translate says 操 is “f**k” in Chinese and “operation” in Japanese. Even if Google Translate is wrong, I imagine there’s a lot of room for miscommunication between two cultures using the same characters in different ways. Makes me wonder how the meaning changed over time. There are some funny differences between British & American slang...😂
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#11
A work colleague (now long term friend) had ‘pom pooey’ tattooed on his shoulder. He had been to Thailand and the locals nick-named him pom pooey and said it meant happy fat man (he was fat, he was happy, lovely man). He did not know how to spell it (or even say it correctly?) but, 20 years later, he still loves that tattoo.
Ikki Hellion 5 years ago
Thai here. and LOL This name isnt common for people anymore nowadays. since we mostly use it for fat dogs or fat cats (in a cute way tho) oh and also this is the name of a popular canned fish brand as well. ปุ้มปุ้ย - how it spells
wifeofweasley 4 years ago
thats kinda cute and if he still loves his tattoo thats all that matters :)
#12
Not my story but a friend of mine: She could read kanji and was in class one day noticing this girl’s tattoo for the first time. Confused she inquired about it: “What does your tattoo say?” “High princess” Turns out it actually said pig princess.
Jace 5 years ago
Or “pupa” if it was read as Chinese... according to Google Translate...
Load More Replies... IttyBittyPrettyKitty 4 years ago
I think I would love to stiitch pig princess and stuff into my clothes, I'm not a tattoo person, but I think it would be funny to have "pig princess" stitched into my hoodie or something lol
#13
I'm half Japanese. Saw a guy with 田力 tattoo going down his arm. He probably wanted 男 (boy/man)...I'm guessing. 田力 translates to Rice field power. Rice field power.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
LOL, that's hilarious!!! ;D Why is called that, btw?
Load More Replies... Audrey Bob-The-Builder 5 years ago
Obviously he's a superhero. Rice field power man! Y'all are amateurs smh.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
Well, the character for 'rice' is different from the one for 'rice field'...
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#14
Took Mandarin in high school. My teacher told us about a woman who had a tattoo of the word "免费"--probably thinking it meant "free" as in "free-spirited"--but it actually means "free" as in "no cost."
jennifer wocknitz 5 years ago
Well, that's one way of making sure you're not mistaken for a hooker.
#15
I have the characters for Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow) tattooed on me. I knowingly did this because I'm half Chinese and [friggin] love shrimp dumplings.
A Chinese girl asked me if I knew what it meant, and I laughed and said, of course, I love dumplings. My Chinese mother was not impressed but then laughed and said it was very me.
Karen Klinck 5 years ago
Great story, but it doesn't belong with the 'I know your language better than you do' collection.
#16
A friend of mine has a leg tattoo that says: 我看不懂汉字 Which basically translates as 'I can't read Chinese' It gets a lot of attention in the summer. *we both live in China.
#17
Dude was so proud of his grandson that he had a tattoo that said “I love my grandson” Except I’m guessing everyone just googled “I love my grand son” because it came out reading “I love fat boys.” Whoops
(((Sherlocat))) she/her 5 years ago
Oh, c**p. So _that's_ how it ended up that way!! (I was wondering why...)
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#18
I knew a guy who thought he had "warrior" tattooed on his arm but another friend informed me actually read "drunk arsehole". He was an arsehole, and often drunk, so I chose to believe this.
Karen Klinck 5 years ago
I can just imagine how he was in the tattoo parlor. And since many of them work on word-of-mouth, they couldn't refuse him outright. I don't blame them in the least!
#19
While stationed in Japan a friend got a tattoo by some random guy outside of base, he wanted some Shinto quote for a prosperous life but instead got the kanji reading something like "fat fish eat long" the Japanese workers just called him fat fish for the next 3 years... it caught on life fire even random people from other commands knew his nickname
Hans 5 years ago
Fat fish for life! Seriously..."got a tattoo by some random guy"...why would anyone in any case take such a choice for something that is for a lifetime?
Erin 5 years ago
Meh - it is a tattoo. Now he has a good story. I got a tattoo in the bathroom of a biker bar from a guy named Rummy that stole a tattoo gun and wanted to use it. Is it the finest art in the world? No. But do I have a cool story to tell people when they see my peace sign tattoo? Also, no. Where was this going? Oh yeah, NO REGERTS!!!
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Amaranthim Talon 5 years ago
Actually, "Fat Fish For Life" is not bad advice. Technically, if you had Fat Fish for life, you would have a prosperous life- at least you would not go hungry!
Katinka Min 5 years ago
To be fair 'fat fish eat long' is a sort of proseperous live, at least for a fish. And he got a hilarious nickname on top. I think this tattoo is a win :-)
#20
I met a girl when I was backpacking in China who knowingly had the characters for "prostitute" tattooed on her hip - she thought it was funny, and the only people who saw it would be ones she chose to show it to. The Chinese guy who was drinking with us in the hostel was horrified, and suggested that she get another tattoo underneath which said "only joking".
Dorothy Parker 5 years ago
Well, can also mean selling out. Like a great writer working for tabloids.
#21
I speak Mandarin, and it works both ways. Here's one in reverse. On the beach in Taiwan I saw a huge - and I mean huge, ripped Taiwanese guy walking on the beach in Hualien with his girlfriend. On his back in black gothic letters, flanked by swords, was the phrase: "Sl*t Dude". Told him it was an interesting choice in tattoo....store behind it? Turned out he thought he was getting a tattoo that said "Swordsman". When he found out what it actually said, well...wouldn't want to be that artist.
Olga Antonova 5 years ago
Why on Earth tattoo people think they are entitled to do this??? If you don't like the message, just don't do it, be professional.
elfin 5 years ago
Totally agree. If the customer has done something offensive then refuse to serve him/her. To indulge yourself with a mean-spirited joke is nasty. And it's even nastier if the customer has done nothing offensive.
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Jonathan Meadows 5 years ago
I can't figure out what word that is supposed to be because there are no words that fit that even come close to needing censoring. "S**t" isn't a word that needs censoring from anyone. What needs censored is the notion that a lot of sex is bad (even if safe.)
Lisa Shelton 5 years ago
To be fair, the tattoo artist may not have understood English any better than I understand Mandarin
Jace 5 years ago
These are the risks of using computer translation tools or straight vocabulary translation dictionaries and not understanding the language or the culture being appropriated for permanent body decoration. No matter which direction. It’s just a human error, repeated countless times around the world.
Katinka Min 5 years ago
I just adore the fact that there are idiots on both sides of the border doing this nonsense! More wrong western tats on Asians, please! :-D
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
It may have been a mistake to pull such a prank on a huge, ripped dude...!! :O
Joreen Kong 5 years ago
I believe it’s really case of bad literal translation. Sl*t dude and swordsman are both similar sounding in mandarin
#22
Japanese speaker here. Guy had one that read "トン勝" Someone told him that トン (Ton) means pig and 勝 (katsu) means to win. He thought that putting them together means to win against pigs (police?) とんかつ Tonkatsu means pork cutlet. I didn't have the heart to tell him.
Dorothy Parker 5 years ago
Someday he'll see it on a menu and think it's a nickname for the dish.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
"Hey man, you oughta try my favourite dish in here. It's called F**k The PO-leece!"
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Zxin Yap 5 years ago
I think in Japanese culture they would usually have that 'Tonkatsu' as lucky food before exams or tournaments as it means to 'Win' and this is the preferred food that can be related to. It's not really that wrong to have that tattooed, maybe just a story and culture behind those words. Interesting yet funny!
Sam Mize 5 years ago
I'm admittedly bad at Japanese (and safely un-tattooed), but wouldn't the kanji be read as ショウ since it doesn't have the hiragana つ after it?
Nimrod Name 5 years ago
The post literally says they're Japanese, I think they would choose the correct kanji
Load More Replies... #23
I knew a guy who had a full on 'Yakuza' style tattoo done before he was 20 with the intention of going to Japan to show it off and 'join the Yakuza'. No idea if he's still alive, but he was always a moron.
Louise B 5 years ago
Lol! As if the yakuza are going to say, 'Well, you have gone to the trouble of getting the tattoo. I suppose we have to let you join now. Welcome to the team!'
Emma B 5 years ago
I have already cast, shot, and edited that movie in my head.
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María Hermida 5 years ago
Now, this is the most stupid idea I've ever heard of. What kind of substance consumption makes someone believe they can just join the mafia/a terrorist group as if they joined their local gym? HOW CAN A PERSON BE SO STUPID?
Kate Johnson 5 years ago
He was still developing his brain. It was done before he was 20. Just hitting a chronological age does not mean that you are wise or educated enough. I've met too many people throughout my career as a CNA (specialized in geriatrics as well as in dementia in that age group) who believed that being old meant that they were wise. Being old does not mean that you are wise; it simply means that you're old. You may know a lot of things, but so do trivia/Jeopardy masters.
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Karen Klinck 5 years ago
I somehow don't think that's the way you go about joining the Yakuza...
Adam Hart-Dyke 5 years ago
"No idea if he's still alive, but he was always a moron." - I'm crying. This is the best!
#24
I didn't see it myself, but two coworkers of mine were laughing their asses off after coming back from lunch one day, saying they had seen a woman with a (I assume Chinese) tattoo that translated to "Not a Tattoo."
(((Sherlocat))) she/her 5 years ago
Now I want to get a tattoo in the shape of a pipe, that says "This is not a tattoo of a pipe"!
Kind of like this: sherlock-h...9779d0.jpg 
Nagawa (Cofa) Kishiki 5 years ago
A paradox. Maybe she is getting ready for A.I. apocalypse cause the machine will blow up when it try to comprehend this tattoo.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
Mr. Finch is typing furiously at his computer to prevent this as we speak...!!
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#25
I saw someone with the characters for "Big" and "Father" and figured it was like, an approximation of Big Daddy. The guy got really agitated with me and told me it was Chinese for "eternal wealth". Okay.
Phoebe Bean 5 years ago
I can´t believe people arguing with actual native speakers of a language they (tattooed ones) clearly don´t know anything about.
EA 5 years ago
I can! Working in customer service for 8 years ruins your faith in humanity
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Ben Churchill 5 years ago
Why get "eternal wealth" tattooed on you anyway? I guess maybe it's aspirational, but in my opinion it's stupid.
#26
I don't speak Japanese nor Chinese, but I once had an Art Academy colleague who had two kanjis she had tatooed on each shoulder, and she believed they meant "eternal happiness" or something, because she saw them in a book at a flea market. I copied the kanjis on a piece of paper and translated them on Google. They roughly translated to "foot fungus". Ew. The Kanjis are these: 足菌
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
What _kind_ of pods?? Like, Tide Pods? Space pods? Pea pods?
Load More Replies... Edwin Lesperance 5 years ago
Together they mean 'pods.' Separate, one means foot and the other means fungus.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
Wait - but what _kind_ of pods?? Tide Pods? Space pods? Pea pods?
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#27
Not chinese or Japanese but I have the tattoo. I got a tattoo that was suppose to mean fearless a friend who majored in mandarin says it means small cake.
Rabbit Carrot 5 years ago
She can show her tat in the bakery when she doesn’t want to talk, or is too drunk to.
#28
A friend of mine did a tattoo he thought it was faith but in reality was soup
#29
"Spicy Noodles." Poor girl thought is was "faith" or something stupid.
Conrad Strucker 5 years ago
yes. her fictional stripper name was "Spicy Noodles".
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Joe Nemeth 5 years ago
I have that Nongshim ramen label tattoo on my shoulder! I love that stuff. I tell people it means “courage”. I showed it to an elderly Asian woman once and her eyes got big and she said, “Spicy!”. Tattoo confirmed.
Jace 5 years ago
The numbers will change as people vote up or down. But yes, there’s another story here of a similar tattoo translation.
Load More Replies... #30
Once when I was in university, working at a shop, a very fat lady came in with the kanji for "large" tattooed on her shoulder blade. I politely complimented her tattoo and asked what it meant. She said it meant "sassy".
#31
“If you’re reading this, your eyes are slanted” They were correct.
Edgar Rops 5 years ago
Whomever wrote it knew the language well enough, probably a native speaker. Is self-deprecating humour still offensive?
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#32
Seen a few over the years but one that I remember most was when I first started learning Mandarin. The guy had a tattoo on the back of his leg that proudly said 牛肉 which means beef.
Isabella Cousins 5 years ago
maybe he be like “check out my thick beef legs guys.“ *cough cough* pervert
#33
My wife’s boyfriend from college got her name tattooed on his arm — after they broke up. Turns out the tattoo didn’t say “Carrie”, it said “Curry”. So I guess in a way, it probably worked out better for him.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
I've never heard of a person getting a tattoo of their partner's name, AFTER they broke up?? How odd.
Celtic Pirate Queen 5 years ago
My ex did. I didn't get the whole story until I had to have him arrested. He got her name tattooed in a ribbon on his upper arm AFTER he got out of jail for stalking and harassing her. I guess such a romantic gesture was supposed to erase the terror he put her through. (Yeah, guess why I had him arrested?)
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D0UBLE-D00RS 5 years ago
did they mean "after, they broke up" or did they get a tattoo of their ex's name? 'Cause that's just weird
#34
Japanese speaker here. Some guy had one that said d*ck in Japanese on his neck. I laughed so hard in the train and no one knew why.
nanashi 5 years ago (edited)
did he wanted it to express his love for パチンコ but can't handle the pain so just abbreviated it to just チンコ?
#35
Translator here. So many good ones: Had a metalhead guy think he had 'Rock and Roll' in Japanese on his arm. Turns out it was '岩滑り' which is rockslide/landslide, the natural disaster. Had a girl with a tramp stamp she thought meant sweet babe, but actually had '砂糖幼児', lit. 'sugar baby' Then there're the ones that are either backwards, incomplete, or non sensical. The latter usually happens when you try and translate an idiom pr phrase or glurgey motivational saying and you end up with 'passionate passion fear' or something equally meaningless
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
"Then there're the ones that are either backwards, incomplete, or non sensical." LOL - any LOST fans here??
https://lostpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Jack%27s_tattoos#Translation JackShepha...8cab4c.jpg 
Amaranthim Talon 5 years ago
Well, don't leave us hanging!! What does it SAY???
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#36
I've seen a guy which had a tattoo 馬鹿外人 (a stupid foreigner). It was LOL. I wonder he'd done it for purpose or not
Audrey Bob-The-Builder 5 years ago
It means Idiot foreigner for all you fellow non-Japanese speaking, people
Bobby Clemente 5 years ago
The question that needs to be answered though is why did horse 馬+deer 鹿 equate to stupid to early Japanese, hah hah?!
#37
I speak Japanese and I have seen quite a lot of tattoos that don't make sense because they are clearly direct translations from english, or because people don't take cultural context into consideration. Like the kanji for woman and man (女、男) which do literally mean woman and man, but in Japan the singular kanji strongly connotes a public toilet since this is what is on the doors. Then there's all the inverted miswritten kanji. In another direction, I also speak Danish, Swedish and Norwegian and it has become real popular to use the vowels æøå in other countries. I guess, to indicate scandinavian quality/authenticity/coolness, I don't know... But it never makes any sense. Like the make-up company Kosås. I know it's just a name, but it sounds really stupid.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
Cow sauce?? Well, there _is_ another famous make-up company called Milk, so...
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Böb Schüster 5 years ago
Like all the people that use ß as a B when it means ss a sharp s sound as opposed to a soft s which is more like a z.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
People who don't respect how languages work really irritate me...! I mean, if you want to do something clever with a language, at least do it in a way that makese sense within the language. Otherwise, it just makes you look a right fool!
CaptainDinosaur 5 years ago
People with multiple languages make me envious. I only speak some of English...
Christel Nellemann 5 years ago
hhaha, fellow scandinavian here. , yes, like ... mønster means "pattern" , and is pronounced differently from monster.
Iris Ka-Yan Bakalar 5 years ago
Reminds me of the massive chain store in Hong Kong called Wanko!
Annika Männikkö 5 years ago
Swedish speaker here... Kosås when pronounced sounds near the word korvsås which means sausage sauce (a Scandinavian dish). Haha. It's good with mashed potatoes tho!
#38
Cantonese speaker here, I saw a white woman on the street with a tattoo that says “fix” on her back, maybe she needs fixing..
Jace 5 years ago
What word would you prefer, bro? “White” is not a racist term. “Yellow” is. Learn some history about how pejoratives and racist terms come about before you go on your next “reverse racism” tangent.
Load More Replies... #39
Very recently I saw someone with the Chinese sign for "Infected" tattooed. Like what is that even supposed to mean lol
Dutch VanZandt 5 years ago
I shudder to think... so many possibilities. None of them positive.
#40
I don't know if this was stupid or brilliant but someone had ＂您有小龍湯圓嗎？＂which is respectfully asking if they had soup dumplings. I thought it was really stupid until someone said that they must really like soup dumplings...
Emil they/them 5 years ago
Many Asian languages have a system of showing respect to a person you're speaking to. For example, you'll conjugate verbs differently when talking to a family member/close friend and differently when speaking to your teacher/boss.
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#41
Colleague of mine wanted his name (Nick) tattooed on his arm in Chinese characters . To the credit of the artist, the stuff on his arm IS pronounced "Nígū", 尼姑. It translates to "nun".
onitsuka 5 years ago
肉 definitely would've been better. It's his name AND he's professing his love of steak.
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orangeade .m 5 years ago
I guess 你克 Nick (nickel, gram) a gram of nickel might have been better for a guy?
#42
Sister has an apprenticeship at a tattoo parlor, she sent me a pic of a customer's tattoo asking what it said. The customer had said that it meant "Inner Power". The word was ハンバーガー (pronounced hanbaga), in English this means hamburger. My sister chose not to tell her, as it would definitely ruin her day, and I choose to believe she saw some "inspirational" Facebook post meant to trick people into believing things about a culture they only pretend to care about, and I applaud whoever made it.
Stormapotamus 5 years ago
she should've told her. I trust my artist to tell me if I f**k something up.
CHLOE JAMES 5 years ago
Is this Chinese or Japanese? I'm assuming Japanese because last time I checked, hamburger in Chinese is pronounced hànbǎo.
Bobby Clemente 5 years ago
Maybe she's referring to the power of the hamburgers in her back pockets?
#43
Saw a guy with a "今日は金" tattoo on his back which he thought meant something like "Treasure each day". The literal translation is "Today is gold". Not the worst one, but to someone who was a native speaker it would be very strange.
Nagawa (Cofa) Kishiki 5 years ago
You sure he is not asking for TGIF? Cause gold can mean Friday in Japanese.
#44
I live Tokyo and my SO is Japanese. I speak Japanese and read well enough to be able to understand signs and... tattoos. I'm still studying. That being said, before moving here, I was in class and noticed someone with Japanese their arm. Looking at it, I knew it was either a mistake or perhaps it was actually a Chinese character as Japanese and Chinese share many of the same symbols. Unfortunately, he had a traditional Japanese demon on his arm...which actually made it more confusing in all reality. The symbol was 家 which is generally read as house when alone. So, I played dumb and asked what his tattoo meant. Him: oh, I had a Japanese student stay with my family for a year and he said we were family so, I got the kanji for family tattooed on me. Me: oh I see. Now, I didn't say anything, but he was missing a kanji. It should have been 家族. So, there is a dude with the japanese word for house running around on his arm, but he thinks it means family. My BF also saw someone with 'kitchen's tattooed on their arm the other day on the train. They also had a shirt with a samurai on it, but the shirt said ninja.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago (edited)
But won't people in Japan ask him why he has 'house' tattooed on his arm? Or maybe he's a fan of that outrageous medical drama _House_ ! (Only kidding - in that case, it would say 'hausu' in katakana.)
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JJ Xu 5 years ago (edited)
家 means family home in Chinese. 家人 (combination of family home and people) means family. 一家人means one family. The meaning of 家 is close enough to family. 家族 means clan, as in every possible person related to you by blood or marriage, in a very formal and clinical sense. Using this word almost flaunts their clan as a class above others, as it is usually associated with 大家族 (big clan) or 显赫家族 (prominent clan). It would be f*cking weird if someone actually tattooed 家族 on themselves.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
Ah, thanks for explaining these differences! In Japanese, 家 means house (I think there's a different word for home), and 家族 means family (usually the nuclear family).
Load More Replies... A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
It's like, pirate... viking... what's the diff??
Load More Replies... Iris Ka-Yan Bakalar 5 years ago
It does mean "family", but in Chinese. Seems like maybe the tattoo artist had no idea there was a difference.
Bobby Clemente 5 years ago
If there was a surname before the 家 then it means family, e.g. 山本家。
#45
A lot of women have "女" written on them. For some reason they think having the word "woman" written in Japanese adds some sort of mystical feminine power to it when in reality people most often associate it with a bathroom door. Imagine seeing Japanese women walking around with "woman" tattooed on themselves. On top of that the kanji is often written rather sloppily like something a five year old would write, rather than elegant script.
Jace 5 years ago
I’m visualizing a woman with the common “women” glyph for public restrooms tattooed on her...
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
I should just go get a tattoo of this symbol: 🚺 hahaha
Load More Replies... #46
There was a post recently about a tattoo in Thai reading “prawn spring roll” plastered across a lady’s shoulders.
#47
My friend in highschool got “Italian” in mandarin tattoo’d on his neck... we later learned that it means “Italian food”
ADHORTATOR 5 years ago
Why should an italian get a tattoo in mandarin which means "Italian"?.... I have seen once a guy with the latin phrase "Ultima Ratio Regis" on his arm, but it was written in russian letters ...?
Bent. O. Jensen 5 years ago (edited)
"Ultima Ratio Regis" (‘The king's final argument’=war) is also the name metal band
Load More Replies... #48
She had 教 on her shoulder. It means to teach. So I asked her why she got that on her shoulder. Girl: No, it means to believe. Me: No, it means to teach... Girl: Maybe in Japanese, but in Chinese it means to believe. Me: ... Bless your heart... walks away Well, I didn't say the last part, but I thought it after the fact. *On mobile, didn't come out the way I thought I formatted...
Kate Johnson 5 years ago
My parents got me an adorable dish which says "Bless your little heart" (yes, they also know what it means) and I use it as a butter dish for fancy meals. It still cracks me up!
Load More Replies... Karen Klinck 5 years ago
Oh, yeah. Let's tell someone how to speak their own language. No hubris here.
Amaryllis lin 5 years ago
In Chinese sometimes 教 means belief, as in religions( ex: Christianity is 基督教, the belief of Christ. 基督is exonym of Christ ). It's never used as the verb' believe' though.
rai mei 5 years ago
Ummm 'to believe' in Japanese is 信じる (shinjiru). To teach is 教える (oshieru). It's Chinese character plus Hiragana.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
Yeah, the kanji 教 by itself doesn't really make sense...
Load More Replies... Nagawa (Cofa) Kishiki 5 years ago
It mean the same in both languages. The sad part is the character for believe is simpler, so less pain if I believe it correctly.
#49
I don't understand either, but a dumb person I know got her son's name "Aiden" tattooed on her wrist in Japanese along with her baby daddy. I saw it and immediately sent it to my Japanese friend who said the tattoo said "flourish electricity" which is pronounced "aiden" but would definitely not be how they would write it if he applied for a Japanese visa or something.
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago (edited)
Yeah, for the name Aiden, it would be written as 'eiden' ( エイデン ) in katakana. You don't write foreign names in kanji - maybe in Chinese they do, but not in Japanese.
Sofia Bondevik 5 years ago
Technically you can assign katakana characters ateji!
Load More Replies... #50
Japanese. Meat Tuesday.
Hermione Granger 5 years ago
Mmmmmmm meat tuesday lol. So we have the steak, and the bacon, and the pork........
Kalista Moonwolf 5 years ago (edited)
I bet they were trying for something akin to Mardi Gras or Carnival - literally "Fat Tuesday" and "to leave/remove meat," or "Shrove Tuesday," respectively.
So_Long_And_Thanks_For_All_The_Fish 5 years ago
As opposed to Vegetable Tuesday, which is by far inferior
#51
My friends and i went to Japan, my buddy is a huge fan of the culture but doesn't understand the language so we went and he has a bunch of tattoos of all the places he has been with the sentence I Visited ____ and so he wanted to get one in Japanese Note the Japanese can be BRUTAL He ended up getting "Don't Speak the Language, Don't visit the country" He's trying to get it covered up.
Laugh or not 5 years ago
That was totally uncalled for, unless your friend was very rude to the artist. Being happy to visit a country and wanting a tattoo is not a douche move.
Olga Antonova 5 years ago
Hate it. Rude and disgusting on the tattoo's artist side. You can't expect frequent tourists to learn all the languages of all places they have been.
similarly 5 years ago
I'm sorry he had a bad experience. I guess it depends on where you are. I've lived in Japan for 20 years, and most people don't have a problem with my terrible level of Japanese.
Karen Klinck 5 years ago
I had a wonderful conversation with a local shopkeeper in suburban Tokyo with about 8 words of Japanese, 6 phrasebooks, and a lot of pantomime. No problem. Wonderful lady.
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OBGYN KENOBI 5 years ago
I'm surprised by the amount of Japanese tattoo artist considering tattoos are seen as gang symbols and often places wont let you in if you have visible tattoos (sometimes there are exceptions to foreigners).
D0UBLE-D00RS 5 years ago
That is so rude! Imagine putting that permanently on someone's body! I think that idea of having tattoos of all the places you've been is such a cool idea, but that tattoo artist should be fired. I hope the cost isn't too much.
Jace 5 years ago
“Should be fired”... aren’t most tattoo artists their own bosses?
Load More Replies... Dawn Ours 5 years ago
ahhh , that's a double standard isn't it ? If/When a citizen of a country only speaks one language says something like that to a visiting tourist that doesn't speak their language the whole country gets labeled as rude but heck by all means "tattoo" a tourist's body forever with the same rude comment makes you what ??????? clever ? 2 wrongs don't make a right
Jace 5 years ago
It’s not a double standard. This is exactly that. This rudeness is the same in tattoo as it would be in speech. People do it all over the planet to visitors to their countries.
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Nomadus Aureus 5 years ago
Still, it was a d**k move and I do hope the tattoo artist never ever visits a country they don't speak the official language of.
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#52
A Japanese friend from college shared this one with me. A friend of his was a huge Chicago Bulls fan. To express his love of the team he got the kanji for bull on his bicept. The kanji he got actually translated to cow/beef.
Karen Klinck 5 years ago
cows may come and cows may go, but the bull in here lasts forever."
Load More Replies... Karen Klinck 5 years ago
Totally OT: The word cow is Saxon, because the peasants herded them. The word beef is Norman, because the conquering lords ate it. (The stuff you learn...!)
#53
Riley Reid the pornstar has "生活帶來您時檸檬做檸檬水" inked on her back. It means when life gives you lemon, make lemonade but it's not a saying in Chinese so it sounds dumb tbh There's also grammatical error so it makes it even funnier but apparently she did it as a joke? Idk
Blueberry Woofle 5 years ago
"When existing produces fruit, make a drink out of it."
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D0UBLE-D00RS 5 years ago
I put it into google translate and missed the first character by mistake, so I ended up with "活帶來您時檸檬做檸檬水" which translates to "Lemons make lemonade when I bring you alive", and I think that's a much better tattoo idea
Chronomorpho 5 years ago
The actual translation of that is hilarious. It literally says: "When life brings you, lemons will make lemonade."
electricveins 5 years ago
Honestly the comments on this post are funnier than the actual post.
Ashla Delana 5 years ago
I translated it with google and it means "Lemon makes lemonade when life brings you"
Team Tokyo 5 years ago
yup, NEVER trust google translate, maybe there's a story of a tattoo in here that's wrong cuz someone used google translate...
Load More Replies... Jim Ellington 5 years ago
She has bigger fish to fry than an asinine tattoo, as in the permanent visual record of her being a filthy s**t.
Jace 5 years ago
Oh, you’re one of THOSE. As if your other posts didn’t already reveal you... I bet you look at plenty of porn for your own masturbatory uses, and yet you have a problem with women getting paid for the service. I’ve never understood why conservative, racist, misogynistic douchebags find it necessary to troll lefty, progressive, typically feminist websites’ comment forms. I assume it’s just a result of having no life of your own and feeling utterly impotent to affect the world around you, so you go screaming into the internet where you’re protected by anonymity.
Load More Replies... Amaryllis lin 5 years ago
It reads' when life brings you, lemons make lemon water' in Chinese.
Jace 5 years ago
Obviously because they’re familiar with Riley Reid. What’s your problem? Porn shaming? Masturbation shaming? I also recognized the name as soon as I read this post, and I’ve seen her tattoo, too. It’s right down the middle of her back. Do an image search with “safe search” turned on if you like. Many people have tattoos very prominently displayed on their bodies, porn context or not. Regardless, there’s nothing wrong with [consensual] human sexuality/sexual activity.
Load More Replies... #54
My coworker has " female hand" tattooed on her arm because she tried to spell her name in Japanese
Damien McDallydally 5 years ago
Somehow, your username and "female hand" .. well, yea i guess..
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#55
Not chinese or japanese but relatable. Korean. Worked with a guy in Korea as an ESL teacher. He had the words '미국사람' in poorly written hand writing or 'american person' tatted on his butt cheek and showed me one day the only tattoo he had lol
#56
Seen a guy with 無料 tattooed on his forearm. In japanese it means "free", but in the sense that it doesn't cost anything. Poor guy probably used Google translate and was looking for the other meaning of free (自由 in Japanese)
Dynein 5 years ago
Now that's a problem that would apply when translating into ANY language, even ones close to English (German also differentiates between "frei" and "umsonst"/"kostenlos"). Not necessarily with that specific word, but there's always, between any two languages, instances where a word of one language covers several meanings that are differentiated in a different language. Monolinguals seem to have a hard time understanding that.
Jace 5 years ago
As a monolingual who actually cares about language, I agree 😅
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carol Vaughn 5 years ago
I was sitting on the bus in the town I live in, a guy had a tat on his leg another man aked him what was it suppose to say, The guy with the tat said, His Brat, the other guy said no, It says His B***h,
Arael Songheart 5 years ago
I actually just checked Google Translate. Typing “free” in on the app gets you that second translation. I typed in “that is free” and the first two characters mentioned appeared for the word “free.” Perhaps in the browser it’s different, but on the app it would have given the second translation mentioned in the original post. Note that I’m on an iPhone and that was the app. It could very well be different on the browser or on Android since I haven’t checked those. Also, time is a factor since the translations could have improved since the time they got the tattoo.
#57
Watermelon
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
Well, if I'm gonna get myself a fruit tattoo, I'll get: 🖋️🍍🍎🖋️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct6BUPvE2sM
A. Sherlocat 5 years ago
Kimitachi kiwi papaya mango dane? 🥝🍐🥭 (use a VPN to connect to Japan first) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxpMy1AZNe4
Bent. O. Jensen 5 years ago
What do call a person who speak 3 languages? Trilingual. What do call a person who speak 2 languages? Bilingual. What do call a person who speak 1 languages? American
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
Olga Antonova 5 years ago
In many cases it is tattoo owners’ fault, but in many cases such misleading translation was obviously done on purpose by the tattoo artist. Like with swordsman/s**t dude, warrior/drunk arsehole, eternal wealth/big father, sassy/large etc. It is so rude and unprofessional. It is not ok for tattoo artists to do this to people. If you do not like the person or the message, just refuse them service.
Karen Klinck 5 years ago
Many tattoo artists rely on word-of-mouth referrals, and they CAN'T turn away a rude loudmouth who could ruin their living. So they get their comeuppance another way.
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Andres Tejeda 5 years ago
I have a deeply homophobic cousin that has a Chinese tattoo on his arm. He told us it meant "Family, Honor, Strength." So one day my Chinese friend and I decided to mess with him. So I told him to "translate" his tattoo and say it meant something funny. So when my cousin was showing us the tattoo me friend also knowing my cousin was homophobic said "you know that your tattoo means: "I love Asian boys". My cousin got so pissed and started denying it. We played it off saying well he is Chinese he speaks the language and reads/writes in it. So now my cousin always has it covered still thinking it means that after 10 years.
Kesondra Key 5 years ago
When I was a kid, I had this amazing cat who I trained and was best friends with, her name was kamoi. My friend at the time told me it meant "bringer of light" so I named her that. Later I found out it meant "upper beam of a door" but I still got it tattooed, since it is still her name. I get some funny looks sometimes.
similarly 5 years ago
I've known a couple of people who actually chose to get Kanji tattoos that name the body part they're on: shoulder and leg.
Ray Heap 5 years ago
Not just in Kanji or Chinese, a British guy who, let´s say he is a "challenged" Skinhead, hool type person had a Tattoo in a huge Frakture font saying "Blute und Ähre" or Bleed and Ear (of wheat) when he wanted the world to know that he had Blut und Ehre or blood and honour I also gleefully pointed out that as a typesetter I know that the font was in fact not a German fraktur but an English one. I still smile remembering how his face left the rails.
Rose the Cook 5 years ago
Seen in an Export Reject shop a lot of pink Tshirts with Chinese characters saying "bite me" across the bust area. Obvious why they were rejected but couldn't help wondering what the original order asked for.
Seabeast 5 years ago
There was an old joke about a woman who saw some characters that she liked the look of on a menu at a Chinese restaurant and knitted them into a sweater. When a Chinese speaking friend saw it he burst out laughing and said told her that it meant "This dish is cheap but delicious".
Colin Leetham 5 years ago
I have thought about trying to find the Japanese kanji for "A Celtic Symbol". I can see it now: "so what does that mean?" Me: It's 'a Celtic Symbol'. Them, looking confused: isn't that Japanese? Me, speaking slowly: it's a Celtic Symbol. (Simple pleasures, right?)
Sarah Pryde 5 years ago (edited)
I worked with a girl at summer camp MANY years ago, and we had many staff from around the world as well. She had a Japanese mark on her LOWER BELLY that she told us meant "fish", since she happened to be a Pisces. Dude from Malaysia laughed, said no.....that means fish pond.......that was her nickname for the rest of the summer
Nikki D 5 years ago
These people getting tattoos in shady places in a foreign country where they don't speak the language are very lucky that a bad tattoo was all they got!
Seabeast 5 years ago
Yeah, better make sure you have your hepatitis vaccine before doing that .
Load More Replies... Olga Antonova 5 years ago
In many cases it is tattoo owners’ fault, but in many cases such misleading translation was obviously done on purpose by the tattoo artist. Like with swordsman/s**t dude, warrior/drunk arsehole, eternal wealth/big father, sassy/large etc. It is so rude and unprofessional. It is not ok for tattoo artists to do this to people. If you do not like the person or the message, just refuse them service.
Karen Klinck 5 years ago
Many tattoo artists rely on word-of-mouth referrals, and they CAN'T turn away a rude loudmouth who could ruin their living. So they get their comeuppance another way.
Load More Replies... Andres Tejeda 5 years ago
I have a deeply homophobic cousin that has a Chinese tattoo on his arm. He told us it meant "Family, Honor, Strength." So one day my Chinese friend and I decided to mess with him. So I told him to "translate" his tattoo and say it meant something funny. So when my cousin was showing us the tattoo me friend also knowing my cousin was homophobic said "you know that your tattoo means: "I love Asian boys". My cousin got so pissed and started denying it. We played it off saying well he is Chinese he speaks the language and reads/writes in it. So now my cousin always has it covered still thinking it means that after 10 years.
Kesondra Key 5 years ago
When I was a kid, I had this amazing cat who I trained and was best friends with, her name was kamoi. My friend at the time told me it meant "bringer of light" so I named her that. Later I found out it meant "upper beam of a door" but I still got it tattooed, since it is still her name. I get some funny looks sometimes.
similarly 5 years ago
I've known a couple of people who actually chose to get Kanji tattoos that name the body part they're on: shoulder and leg.
Ray Heap 5 years ago
Not just in Kanji or Chinese, a British guy who, let´s say he is a "challenged" Skinhead, hool type person had a Tattoo in a huge Frakture font saying "Blute und Ähre" or Bleed and Ear (of wheat) when he wanted the world to know that he had Blut und Ehre or blood and honour I also gleefully pointed out that as a typesetter I know that the font was in fact not a German fraktur but an English one. I still smile remembering how his face left the rails.
Rose the Cook 5 years ago
Seen in an Export Reject shop a lot of pink Tshirts with Chinese characters saying "bite me" across the bust area. Obvious why they were rejected but couldn't help wondering what the original order asked for.
Seabeast 5 years ago
There was an old joke about a woman who saw some characters that she liked the look of on a menu at a Chinese restaurant and knitted them into a sweater. When a Chinese speaking friend saw it he burst out laughing and said told her that it meant "This dish is cheap but delicious".
Colin Leetham 5 years ago
I have thought about trying to find the Japanese kanji for "A Celtic Symbol". I can see it now: "so what does that mean?" Me: It's 'a Celtic Symbol'. Them, looking confused: isn't that Japanese? Me, speaking slowly: it's a Celtic Symbol. (Simple pleasures, right?)
Sarah Pryde 5 years ago (edited)
I worked with a girl at summer camp MANY years ago, and we had many staff from around the world as well. She had a Japanese mark on her LOWER BELLY that she told us meant "fish", since she happened to be a Pisces. Dude from Malaysia laughed, said no.....that means fish pond.......that was her nickname for the rest of the summer
Nikki D 5 years ago
These people getting tattoos in shady places in a foreign country where they don't speak the language are very lucky that a bad tattoo was all they got!
Seabeast 5 years ago
Yeah, better make sure you have your hepatitis vaccine before doing that .
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