I have a question...

[conuly]

Occasionally, in latin, people show up asking for some translation for a tattoo. Why? Do you really want a cheesy sentiment (most of them are) forever on your body in a dead language you don't even speak? Do you honestly want to spend the rest of your life not only translating your tattoo to everyone but explaining that no, you don't actually speak Latin, some people in a Livejournal community translated it for you? Is it worth the risk that somebody will deliberately tell you something profane/funny just for the laugh (like the Japanese tattoo artist did with stupid white kids who wanted "something cool in Japanese" on their bodies...) I mean, what's the point? Why not just get it in English? That's the language you speak, after all.

Comments

[joeymew.livejournal.com]

Meh, who knows. Sounds stupid to have something you don't even speak for a tattoo. I guess they just think that English is too boring. *shrugs*

When I get a tattoo, I'm getting a dragon, not something in a language I don't speak ^-^

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Well, sometimes they can be funny. A character in one of my books has "didite et vincite," and a friend of mine is really rarin' to get that tattooed somewhere on his body. Of course, he understands Latin better than I do.

Of course, now I think my translation of "dido" is off and I can't find where I originally wrote it.

Most people get Japanese because Kanji looks interesting. That drives me absolutely insane. They're words first of all-- and the meanings can be vague at best.

[conuly]

And he has a reason for that... it's from a character he likes, and he knows what the Latin is. It's not the same as saying "I want "random quote" on me, but I don't want it in English!!!"

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Basically, and he went into hysterics when he got what "divide and conquer" really meant.

Getting a tattoo in a language you can't read is so... asinine, just because you don't like it in english. Especially if it's already with our alphabet (I can understand Arabic and Japanese from the aesthetic standpoint, it looks more like art than words).

[morganne13.livejournal.com]

Case and Point in favor of repeating things when you don't know what they mean.....

A guy my friend knew and didn't think much of asked her to tell him a pickup line in elvish. I told her that she should teach him something humiliating. She ended up teaching him..."I hunt for myself in the dark, and I am small." And he had no clue. She told him it meant something different. I'm not sure if he uses it, but if he ever does around someone who actually speaks elvish.......to be a fly on the wall at that moment.....

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

Anybody who came up to me claiming to know Elvish, regardless of whether they were actually telling the truth or not, would automatically get shut down in my book.

That is a person spending too much time learning something useless and not enough time learning something that could propel them in the world^_~

[conuly]

That is a person spending too much time learning something useless and not enough time learning something that could propel them in the world^_~

So? I'm learning Latin, that's fairly useless. So is music history, but I enjoyed that, and I intend to start up with the piano properly sometime soon. Also, learning any language makes it easier to learn other languages, and it's fun. Why do things have to be useful?

[demonkoala.livejournal.com]

I want to meet the Japanese tattoo artist now.

[wetcircuitry.livejournal.com]

He doesn't really exist, it's an urban legend. As far as anyone knows, anyway.

It's on Snopes.com but not with any detailed explaination -- the website says that they haven't had the chance to write anything up yet.

Here's the link: It's the third one down. (http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/roundup.asp)

[wantkillmyself.livejournal.com]

hey i saw you had an awesome icon of the ferry. would you mind if i used it for the new staten island community?staten_island2 I would appreciate it very much =)

[conuly]

That icon was made for me by my friend xiggaroo. I don't have a problem with it being shared out, but you need to talk to her about that. I'll check out the comm in a bit, by the way...

[wantkillmyself.livejournal.com]

oh thanks so much =)

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

I got the tattoo for fiery spirit/short tempered on my back in Japanese for two reasons.

a) I am extremely shorttempered
b) My minor is Japanese language so I knew exactly what it said and designed the tattoo myself
c) It just looks a hell of a lot cooler in Japanese

Compare:

Short tempered
熱血

If you can't see the Japanese, right click on your screen, select encoding, then choose Unicode or Japanese (Auto-Select).

[conuly]

Again, you actually knew what it was saying. You didn't have to ask random strangers to translate it for you and hope they were right/honest. That's a completely different set-up.

[joeymew.livejournal.com]

Meh, who knows. Sounds stupid to have something you don't even speak for a tattoo. I guess they just think that English is too boring. *shrugs*

When I get a tattoo, I'm getting a dragon, not something in a language I don't speak ^-^

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Well, sometimes they can be funny. A character in one of my books has "didite et vincite," and a friend of mine is really rarin' to get that tattooed somewhere on his body. Of course, he understands Latin better than I do.

Of course, now I think my translation of "dido" is off and I can't find where I originally wrote it.

Most people get Japanese because Kanji looks interesting. That drives me absolutely insane. They're words first of all-- and the meanings can be vague at best.

[conuly]

And he has a reason for that... it's from a character he likes, and he knows what the Latin is. It's not the same as saying "I want "random quote" on me, but I don't want it in English!!!"

[morganne13.livejournal.com]

Case and Point in favor of repeating things when you don't know what they mean.....

A guy my friend knew and didn't think much of asked her to tell him a pickup line in elvish. I told her that she should teach him something humiliating. She ended up teaching him..."I hunt for myself in the dark, and I am small." And he had no clue. She told him it meant something different. I'm not sure if he uses it, but if he ever does around someone who actually speaks elvish.......to be a fly on the wall at that moment.....

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

Anybody who came up to me claiming to know Elvish, regardless of whether they were actually telling the truth or not, would automatically get shut down in my book.

That is a person spending too much time learning something useless and not enough time learning something that could propel them in the world^_~

[demonkoala.livejournal.com]

I want to meet the Japanese tattoo artist now.

[wetcircuitry.livejournal.com]

He doesn't really exist, it's an urban legend. As far as anyone knows, anyway.

It's on Snopes.com but not with any detailed explaination -- the website says that they haven't had the chance to write anything up yet.

Here's the link: It's the third one down. (http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/roundup.asp)

[wantkillmyself.livejournal.com]

hey i saw you had an awesome icon of the ferry. would you mind if i used it for the new staten island community?staten_island2 I would appreciate it very much =)

[conuly]

That icon was made for me by my friend xiggaroo. I don't have a problem with it being shared out, but you need to talk to her about that. I'll check out the comm in a bit, by the way...

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

I got the tattoo for fiery spirit/short tempered on my back in Japanese for two reasons.

a) I am extremely shorttempered
b) My minor is Japanese language so I knew exactly what it said and designed the tattoo myself
c) It just looks a hell of a lot cooler in Japanese

Compare:

Short tempered
熱血

If you can't see the Japanese, right click on your screen, select encoding, then choose Unicode or Japanese (Auto-Select).

[conuly]

Again, you actually knew what it was saying. You didn't have to ask random strangers to translate it for you and hope they were right/honest. That's a completely different set-up.