from: Andi F.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 11:31 AM
subject: Kanji translations

Hey there! I totally LOVE your blog!

ok, so I have 2 different Kanji tattoos. I researched them myself, and was after the Japanese meanings of the characters. I didn't trust a tattoo shop book for either one. The fire/Ice tattoo is supposed to me "to be devoted". The kanji is composed out of the negative space. I was after a verb form, and I am most worried about this one.

Tell me I did it right!! Otherwise, back to the needle I go!

Thanks,

A



Granted this tattoo intended to be read from Japanese perspective, but 沒頭 literally means "no head" in Chinese, in other words "lack of common sense".

Alan has the following to add:

The tattoo is evidently 没頭る, which appears to be a "slangy" way of writing the Japanese verb "hamaru" which in itself is a slang way to say "be a fan of," "be absorbed in" or maybe "be devoted to" something like a rock band or a manga or some other pop culture phenomenon.

Originally, the verb hamaru was written 嵌る or 填る (or sometimes ハマる), but evidently due to the influence of the noun 没頭 [bottō], which means "devotion to" or "absorption in" something, people started writing the word like 没頭る but still pronouncing it hamaru. Perhaps one reason why people started writing the word with these new characters is because both of the old ones 嵌 and 填 were removed from common use in Japanese.

This use of different characters to write words is called 当て字 (ateji) in Japanese. These 当て字 can be used on a whim and there are no particular rules except what becomes popular.

Without common sense, indeed!

from: Sarah C.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 5:53 AM
subject: My husband's old tattoo!

I stumbled across your blog and have had a great time reading it!!

My husband is an unfortunate teenage tattoo victim. He very proudly displays this tattoo on his shoulder blade which he swears means "dragon". However I've looked up the character for dragon and it is nothing like his tattoo!

Does his tattoo have any meaning or is it an attack of gibberish?

Thank you!

Sarah



辰 represents the fifth zodiac year which happens to be "the year of dragon", not the actual dragon. However the tattooed character has an unnecessary extra bit at left upper corner.

Dragon is typically 龍 (or 龙) in Chinese, and 竜 in Japanese.

from: Maija M.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 11:21 AM
subject: A promise to my Mom

Hi,

I got this tattoo to honor my Mom after she died from early onset Alzheimer's. At the time, I went back to school while I took care of her and got a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The location has a special meaning to me and the characters were written for me by one of my teachers.

The two characters are supposed to read "Ma Carol" and the squired symbol then makes it Ma Ma and Carol Carol (my Mom's name and my middle name). Also, I believe the characters can be read as "path" and "promise" as in I promised to help care for others on my new path as a healer.

However, I'm embarrassed to say I've forgotten which character is which and also want to find about about other possible interpretations.

Thanks in advance,

Maija M.



Top character 媽 is correct for "mother".

However tattooed character is not 路, which means "road / path".

from: Julia P.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 3:49 AM
subject: tatoo

Hello, Tian!

I like your site and my tatoo :))

But could you say me what it mean?

Thank you!

--
Julia P.



Hello Julia!

I don't know what your tattoo means.

You are welcome!

--
Tian

from: Travis L.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 3:33 PM
subject: My friend bobby got this dumb tattoo

A resident Japanese says it means “Green Vegetable”, so we have been laughing at bobby. We could never get him to say. One theory is "weed", slang for marijuana.

What do you say?

Thanks!



菜 indeed means "greens, vegetable, food dish".

Bobby needs to lay off smoking oregano, the gateway drug to catnip.

from: marisa r.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 7:24 AM
subject: My husbands Tattoo

My husband being the hero that he is when stationed over in Bahrain (where tattoo's are illegal) went with some friends drunk to a guys HOUSE!!!! And my husband looked through a book, found the symbol for "strength" and got it.

Thanks so much

Marisa



First of all, the character is mirrored.

If it is be read as one single character 慉, it means "to bring up, to raise".

If they are two characters, 小 and 畜, which means "small livestock or young animal".

from: Joe I.
to: Tian
date: Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 7:20 PM
subject: Tattoo Translation Question

I found your website about a week ago and was wondering if you could translate what this says, the picture comes from a good friend. There are two different things, with the top character being separate from the other ones. I'm not sure what the top one is supposed to mean, and I'm pretty sure the bottom one is supposed to be her name. After reading through your website though I learned that there really isn't a way to translate specific characters, like for names so I'm interested in what the heck it actually is.

It might be in Japanese, I forget what she had told me.

Thanks.



Top character 氷 is Japanese-specific, meaning "ice". Second character 加 means "add".

"Smirnoff ice"?

from: Dana H.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 5:51 AM
subject: Tattoo Question

A girl I know from high school recently got this tattoo on her arm. She says it means "beautiful", but a friend of mine says that isn't so, and that 美 is the Chinese character for beauty. The top part even looks like a series of triangle brackets, not like any Chinese character.

So what does this really mean?



災 means "calamity, disaster, catastrophe", and definitely not "beauty", which is 美.

from: Clarity S.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 9:26 AM
subject: Please tell me this means "chaos"

I love your blog!

Please tell me this means "chaos"!



屯 means "barracks, camp, station". In I-Ching (or Yi Jing), it was used to represent "sprouting". None of these uses meant "Chaos", which is 混沌 in Chinese and カオス in Japanese.

from: Cher S.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 2:17 PM
subject: Translation request

Greetings,

I had this tattoo done over 12 years ago when I served in the U.S. Navy. To be completely honest, I do not remember much about that night. Can you work your magic and decipher my tattoo?

Thank you,

Cher S.



Top character looks like 伐 with an extra dot, which means "to cut down", and 福 is correct for "fortune".

from: Jamie D.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 1:43 PM
subject: My tattoo artist is talented but doesn't listen

So...I was told this was the symbol for 'chi' - a giggling oriental girl told me it means 'rice' (which I actually find hilarious.) Any other meaning????



米 by itself alone means "rice".

from: Paul J.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 5:49 AM
subject: another Hanzi Smatter

Hi Tian,

Ah yes, another victim gets a tattoo when they were a drunk teenager almost 16 years ago -- has a feeling it doesn't mean what they think it does.

Of course it means "STRENGTH", right??

Thanks! Your blog is hilarious, without trying to be.

Dr. P

ps, I can't wait to hear what it really means.



慉 means "to foster / to bear", not "strength".

from: W.J. H.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 11:43 AM
subject: Please Translate Ex-Boyfriend's Tattoo

My ex seems to think that his tattoo means "Hell's Warrior". The fella isn't the brightest crayon in the box and I would honestly be very surprised if he managed to get an accurately translated kanji tattoo in rural Idaho. Care to clarify it's meaning?



Top two character 地獄 does mean "hell", however 武 by itself alone does not mean "warrior".

from: Alex Y.
to: "tiangotlost@gmail.com"
date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 9:44 AM
subject: Friend's tattoo

Wondering if you could translate this. My friend thinks it says something like, "to learn as much as possible."

Thanks,

Alex



空 means "empty, hollow, bare, deserted".

from: Jen W.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 10:28 PM
subject: To Fight is to Suffer?

My neighbor directed me to your site after I mentioned to her that my husband had a kanji tattoo.

He tells everyone that it is supposed to mean something along the lines of "to fight is to suffer", and then it later came out that he had gotten the tattoo for his ex-fiancée soon after they split up (before we ever met).

I would be VERY interested to know what it translates to, because he says that he researched it really well before he was inked.

PS- He has said before that the dragon and the kanji are not related, and that they were drawn up at different times.

I would really appreciate your help.

-Jen W.



窮 typically means "exhausted/poor".

from: vicki
to: "tiangotlost@gmail.com"
date: Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 10:52 AM
subject: please help me translate my tattoo

so, i got a tattoo on the back of my neck on my 18th birthday and was told it would be the kinji symbol for "princess".

through recent research via internet, all i can find is "princess" being 2 symbols not one. can you ease my mind and hopefully let me know this means princess? if not, i would love to know what it means and which language is actually on my neck.

thank-you in advance!!



宮 by itself alone means "palace", not quite princess.

from: Brian L.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 3:36 PM
subject: Tattoo

Hi there,

I apologize for emailing you out of the blue but I’m hoping you can help me.

Many years ago I got a tattoo that was done by an artist who was allegedly Japanese and claimed could read Japanese. Today I now teach Japanese martial arts and I’m embarrassed to say that my tattoo doesn’t mean what it was supposed to. Can you help me translate this?

I’d greatly appreciate the help.

Regards,

Brian



寂 means "lonely" & 実 means "reality", however the compound phrase 寂実 does not exist.

from: Crystal F.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 7:53 PM
subject: wisdom and transience?

Hi,

I stumbled across your blog, and through my reading, I remembered my friend's new tattoo.

So, he claims the crane represents wisdom, and the characters mean "transience," (He posted the photo on Facebook, and in reply to a friend's comment asking what the characters meant, he said, "In this case it means transience.")

Additionally, he received his new branding at the *famous* Ed Hardy's Tattoo City SF (Yes, the Ed Hardy.)

So, is this correct?

Thanks, Crystal




How does 桜 (cherry) relate to "transience"?

from: Jeff L.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 4:44 AM
subject: My silly-ass tattoo

Hi 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!



In Japanese, 我慢 means "to persevere" or "patience, endurance, perseverance." However, it means "I am slow" in Chinese.
芽出度い, which can mean "happy" but can also colloquially mean "pregnant" or "crazy."

from: Carla M.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 1:20 PM
subject: Could u help me with my tattoo?

Hi,

I have a chinese tattoo and I'm probably the 200000th person who claims your help to know if I'm as stupid as all people who trust their tattoo artist... I had believed during 10 years that my tattoo means an "C" a "K" and an "S"...I'm right?

Thanks!!



Carla is another person with gibberish faux Chinese tattooed on her back.

http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/2006/08/gibberish-asian-font-mystery-solved.html

http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-set-of-gibberish-english.html

from: Lindsey O.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 11:51 AM
subject: tattoo

One of my exes has several tattoos that are either hanzi or kanji, though I am not sure which. I had always wondered if they actually mean what he believes them to, and was able to find a couple of pictures that had two of them (though, unfortunately I couldn't find any of the other one/ones). Those attached are supposed to say "way of the tiger" and "way of the dragon."



Granted these were not high resolution photographs, however 道大虎 and 道大龍 are not exactly "way of the tiger" and "way of the dragon".