vermin

Chinese Youths Crazy for English Alphabet Tattoos

"The guy at the tattoo shop told me this means brave and proud warrior in English," said beaming Beijing teenager Hao Tsang as he pointed to the letters GARF freshly inked onto his chest. "It's perfect for me because I am very bold and confident, yet spiritual."

Tsang's friend Yuan Chi Hao also went under the needle for some English language characters. "Mine simply says FRUNK. The letters are so beautiful and flow so smoothly into each other. The word actually means old soul with young spirit in English. How cool is that?"

Apparently, very cool.

Throngs of Chinese youths are flocking to tattoo parlors looking to colorfully emboss their bodies with "meaningful" English language words.

"I couldn’t decide between CRYMPH or DLECH," said Chengdu high school student Mingmei Lee. "I know they both mean beautiful flower dancing in the wind in American, but I can't decide what looks prettier."

This strange trend mirrors a popular body art movement in the US where many Americans — especially professional basketball players and young celebrities — get Chinese language characters tattooed on their bodies. Many believe the Chinese characters add an air of spirituality to their beings and help present them as enlightened individuals who respect and admire foreign cultures.

A.J. McLean of the man-band Backstreet Boys proudly displayed his fresh ink after leaving a popular LA tattoo parlor. "Check it out," said the very excited singer as he pointed to the characters on his left forearm. "My man just hooked me up with some mad asian ink! He says it means wise wolf that guards the pack. That’s totally me dawg… I take care of my boys. Cool dat!"
Upon further investigation, the characters were found to actually mean dog ass.

"Listen, these Hollywood hotshots come in here every night wanting something foreign and deep. I only know how to do about twenty Chinese characters and I have no idea what they mean. But who the hell cares? They just look neat. I make up meanings like precious gem floating in pond. Dumb chicks hopped up on ex really go for that one," said burly ex-marine tattoo artist Jake McNaughton with a hearty laugh.

Beijing tattoo artist Johnny Chang echoed the sentiments of his American counterpart, "Kids are stupid. Funny nonsense tattoos make me laugh ha ha. I take letters from American soda cans and candy wrappers and rearrange them into words. GWIPO is my number one favorite. TWARP is also pretty lucky good!"
Theodore Gumbrill

Link

So, to those of you with tatoos, are you sure you got what you think you got? Comments?

__________________
If puns were sausages, this would be the wurst.

Sparhawk

Bwahahahaha!! Glad I never got onto <b>that</b> bandwagon.

__________________
"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work."

XenuHubbard

I'm tattoed, and since tattoos are supposed to last forever, you do research. My rule is that if I find something I want, I wait 2 years. If I still want it as bad two years later, I get it.

As for the whole Chinese character stuff; I've seen some funny stuff. Most of it sounds "cool" and "deep" when translated, but the real meaning doesn't make sense at all to people who speak the language. You know HK-films' subtitles, right...? Same thing when some phrases are translated the other way.

__________________
The above was written by a true prophet. Trust me.

"What doesn't kill you, makes you bitter and paranoid". - SB2000

GSRIDER

My First rule of tattoos. DONT GET WORDS or
NAMES!!! Especially names.

__________________
No signature at this time.

rogue49

I guess you should check with your local foreign friends first.

rockogre

AMEN!

__________________
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you,
Jesus Christ and the American G. I.
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom

oblar

I tend to agree with rogue, just ask a friend who is fluent in the language, and who you trust.

My friend got the chinese character for harmony on her back, she asked her chinese friend to draw it for her then she took it to the parlor.

__________________
"All that we can do is just survive.
.All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive." - Rush

JStrider

thats terrible... i would always do some research and make sure the symbol means what they say it means...

__________________
-=JStrider=-

~Clatto Verata Nicto

Cynthetiq

AHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA *breathe* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

okay...Dog ass... that's a good one. Having lived in Singapore, I learned to recognize some Chinese Characters. I also learned that like your friend who says,"So when you go to Mexico remember to say Pendejo, it means thank you very very much." people will tell you anything especially since you are going to give them some $$$.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

joshibahn

My tattoo says "dog fart" in swahili. It was supposed to mean , "cool stud", I got screwed

__________________
TFP=heaven

Heaven, n 1: the abode of God and the angels and the souls of those who have gained salvation 2: any place of complete bliss and delight and peace [syn: eden, paradise, nirvana, promised land, Shangri-la]

Jack Ruby

Heheheh. I've been thinking about getting a tattoo... Maybe next year. I'll probably get something stupid like a Mario tattoo, or a Devin Townsend song lyric.

__________________
You don't know what you don't know.

Halx

oh my god, that is fucking great!

Truely excellent satire.

__________________
You have found this post informative.
-The Administrator
[Don't Feed The Animals]

denim

I like that story! Funny

suviko

There's an old joke about a tourist buying a nice t-shirt while traveling in China and one day happens to wear back home when he decides to get chinese take away for supper. The delivery boy can't hold his giggle and tells the calligraphy means "I do it with dragons".

Gotten a pic I'd like to take from when I was too young to get it and then I got a psoriasis diagnosed. The doctor said I can prolly never get it without risking the disease going into acute phase. :I

Thenagain I am starting to feel too old for more piercings by now so prolly it was for the best.

spectre

I was thinking the same thing.

Go ahead and say that. Then wonder why you just got your ass kicked.

__________________
"Fuck these chains
No goddamn slave
I will be different" ~ Machine Head

denim

Okay, what does it mean?

YourNeverThere

oh man that is the coolest thing ever, id heard that before but never had a link, my friend and i went on his 18 birthday, and i got the phrase: A Practical Application Of Anarchy. it means alot to me and i love it still. pm me if you really want to find out what i mean by it but i warn you its a long explination. As i said my friend looked up the japanese word for musical, and it was two symbols and he only had enough money for one so he got the first one which means Score by itself, so now he has a tatto of the word score on his arm

__________________
The Above post is a direct quote from Shakespeare

well duh

oh man that's funny.......

it's an old story for american getting tattoos of chinese charactors that they don't know the meaning of... like the urban legend about the guy who has "chicken" tattooed on him in chinese

Sparhawk

Not that I would ever admit to watching such filth, but an episode of sorority life on mtv had the tattoo artist spelling one of the pledge's nickname wrong on her back.

I *heard* it was quite amusing. Heh. Heh heh.

__________________
"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work."

(vixen)

DONT GET WORDS or
NAMES!!! Especially names.

i got my own name. well, nickname. and in english, so i know its right. self designed, exactally what i wanted. i love it.
tattoos are a big desision though, you have to be sure you want it.

__________________
(vixen)
always inside the triangle.

Xiomar

HOLY SHEITE!!! WTF are these people doin' these tattoo's thinking!!! Where I come from, your family dies for stuff like this!

bbbbbb555

now i am going to have to laugh every time i see a person with a tattoo with asian writing on it.

World's King

I know for a fact that the tattoo on my arm in Chinese does not say what it was supposed to.


I don't care anymore. I tell everyone something different. Like tody it means: "Forever Beautiful"

__________________
heavy is the head that wears the crown

j_o_brown

Just stick with pictures.... they are easier to read.

__________________
JB

May the Force be with you...

ratbastid

Enh. Long as it's meaningful to you.

Here I am watching Fresh Gear... I want a tattoo of Sumi Das on my butt....

nefarious

hah .. that's gotta be sad when you find out your tat means "Dumbass" or something ..
some dude who used to be my friend got a tat that supposedly means "Juice" ..
even that is really stupid. .
i think i'd rather go with some Katakana .. and use a dictionary ..
rather than assume that's what it means ..

if we're laughing at them for putting TWARP, CRYMPH or DLECH .. wonder what they think about ours!

__________________
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
- Vegetius "Do Re Mil.3, Prol.

madsenj37

What if it is the name of your kid(s). Love or hate 'em, they are always your kids.

__________________
"Only two things are certain: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not certain about the universe."
-- Albert Einstein

denim

Then you forget 'em in a car during a "warm" day in Texas...

SaltPork

Further proving my point that people are all stupid.

__________________
It was like that when I got here....I swear.

Shokan

I got 2 Japanese characters done on my left upper arm. Real big, about 3" by 3". They supposed to mean "Courage", and below it "To Be Different". I got them when I was younger, and have been trying ever since to find out their actual meaning.

I don't regret getting them, because when I got them, thats what I thought they meant. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose....

__________________
Legalize it.

JohnS72

I was lost for a minute, until I realized it was a satire

Magpie0001

For those of you who dont know what satire means:

satire

n : witty language used to convey insults or scorn; "he used sarcasm to upset his opponent"; "irony is wasted on the stupid"

Synonyms: sarcastic, ironic, caustic, satirical, sardonic

These adjectives mean having or marked by a feeling of bitterness and a biting or cutting quality. Sarcastic suggests sharp taunting and ridicule that wounds: “a deserved reputation for sarcastic, acerbic and uninhibited polemics” (Burke Marshall). Ironic implies a subtler form of mockery in which an intended meaning is conveyed obliquely: “a man of eccentric charm, ironic

__________________
Music is my first love & It will be my last.

YourNeverThere

BAHAHAHA brilliant!!!!! best post in the thread so far,


p.s. hahahaha

__________________
The Above post is a direct quote from Shakespeare

pangavan

I dont know, I have "God Bless America" in Cyrillic with a red star. But I can read Russian and that is what it says

__________________
He is, moreover, a frequent drunkard, a glutton, and a patron of ladies who are no better than they should be.

rockzilla

I can't find the article, but Vice Magazine once did a bit about Asian character tattoos that don't mean what they're supposed to. The funniest was a tough guy with a character that was supposed to mean 'Dangerous', turns out it was dangerous in the sense that he might jaywalk, or cut the tag off of a matress.

lady

( removed )

__________________
Our doubts are traitors,
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt.