Mama always said you were a beautiful and unique flower. What better way to immortalize that sentiment than with a clever Chinese language tattoo, right? These days, it’s almost de rigueur for traveling Westerners.
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Enter Hanzi Smatter – a blog created with the specific intent of deciphering Chinese tattoos for folks wondering what the hell that jumble of symbols on their buttocks actually means.
Readers simply e-mail the site’s owner, Tian, with a photo and brief story of their tattoo:
from: Jeff L.
to: [email protected]
date: Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 4:44 AM
subject: My silly-ass tattooHi Tian!
Very nice blog you have here. I was wondering if you could help me re-translate (hopefully correctly this time) my first ever tattoo!! (surprise!) The top should read “to excel”, the inside should read “strength”, the outside “to persevere”, and the bottom “to find happiness”. Thanks!
© tiangotlost
Tian’s response:
In Japanese, 我慢 means “to persevere” or “patience, endurance, perseverance.” However, it means “I am slow” in Chinese. 芽出度ã„, which can mean “happy” but can also colloquially mean “pregnant” or “crazy.”
Food for thought the next time you’re sitting in that chair in Bangkok wondering why they only charged you $4 for a full sleeve and the shop’s owners can’t stop giggling at you.