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Think carefully before getting a Chinese character tattoo
In East Asian countries like Japan and China, you can find many signboards with funny sounding English sentences. Probably the sign makers are weak in English and they tend to directly translate the message from Chinese to English, word by word. This creates funny (and sometimes embarrassing) use of English, which is sometimes called Engrish or Chinglish. Look at some examples on Engrish.com
Despite such ignorance, at least they are not stupid enough to permanently tattoo Engrish phrases on the body.
On the other part of the globe, many Westerners find Chinese characters artistic and beautiful. They admire the strokes of exotic Chinese phrases and think that it’s cool to permanently display it on their skin. Do you believe me that many people tattoo themselves with Chinese characters without knowing what they mean?
Some unlucky ones get gibberish phrases tattooed on their skin. The more unlucky ones have bad meanings displayed openly, such as “I’m a toilet bowl” or “I’m crazy”. They either don’t bother to check the meaning, or they just trust the tattoo maker’s interpretation of the characters (they might be the blind leading the blind). Some even think that there are Chinese characters equivalent to Roman alphabets (ABCD) and tattoo their initials with gibberish Chinese half-characters. You should see real life examples on HanziSmatter.com
What’s the moral of the story?
Language and culture is alive amongst people who live with it. It deserves respect. Words and characters are not just lifeless decoration. They have meaning and context. If we take it lightly and use it like wallpaper, we will end up as the joke of the day. Therefore, if we use a language, make sure we respect it and use it properly.
Before getting a “cool” Chinese character tattoo, consult a native Chinese speaker (who can read Chinese) on the meaning of the characters to avoid painful embarrassment.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with this. If you do not know the meaning of the Chinese character, then do not simply tattoo on your body. lol.
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yea! very true… most westerners always get bluff by those tattoo artist
cos they hate the asians and thats how they pay back!
Yes, better know the meaning first. But I don’t agree on tattoing the body. Better to keep the body tattoo-less.
foongpc’s last blog post..Welcome To Sweet-Uchi!
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I prefer to keep visual arts on painting canvas
“yo, look at me, I am a super cool toilet bowl” ahahah, I would pay to know someone who really got such a sentence inked on his skin. That would be hilarious. No seriously, I like Chinese characters as tattoos, but sure I would get exact information about what I am going to get on my body for the rest of my life. But most people don’t get tattoos because they like the art, they just get them because they don’t care about anything and they want everybody to know that they don’t care. That is what a tattoo means to them: nothing. So who cares what a Chinese character really means
Good true post like it ?