got a tattoo?

[Morris at Heathfield]

I don't have a tattoo, but once I ordered a Chinese dictionary from a bookstore. The clerk's hair was dyed an unnatural color and she had a nose ring. When I told her the title of the book I wanted to order, her countenance brightened, and she said, "Oh, are you going to get a tattoo?" Totally natural coming from her, but I was a bit taken aback, as the thought would never have crossed my mind.

I don't want to stereotype everyone who gets a Chinese/Japanese character tattoo, but to a large degree, I think such tattoos are the Western equivalent of Engrish. If I ever did get a tattoo in another language, I would want to make dead certain that I understood the grammar and syntax of the language, as well as the full range of meanings of all the words/characters used in the tattoo. I'd do the same if I was buying a t-shirt, but at least you can bury your t-shirt in the bottom of the dresser, give it to Goodwill, or whatever, if you find out it doesn't say quite what you thought it said.

[NewGuise]

If I ever did get a tattoo in another language, I would want to make dead certain that I understood the grammar and syntax of the language, as well as the full range of meanings of all the words/characters used in the tattoo. I'd do the same if I was buying a t-shirt, but at least you can bury your t-shirt in the bottom of the dresser, give it to Goodwill, or whatever, if you find out it doesn't say quite what you thought it said.

I'm with you on that, for all sorts of reasons. There was a story not all that long ago about a tattoo artist who deliberately put some funny or obscene slogans on his unwitting customers before leaving town....