# If you have no intention of getting a tattoo, what tattoo \*would\* you get? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291 "2022-11-03T15:35:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/61 "2022-11-10T19:39:56Z")
I have no interest at all in tattoos and find it hard to think of anything I would want displayed on my skin. Maybe some Celtic knots or something. If I’m going to have fun with it, a TIE fighter on one shoulder and an X-Wing on the other. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/62 "2022-11-10T19:46:09Z")
Shortly before I retired I tattooed an American badger on my forearm. It has been my nickname since childhood. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/64 "2023-05-31T22:44:00Z")
DNR on my chest. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/65 "2023-06-01T00:54:37Z")
Toss up. Esther’s Drawing Hands but with tattoo needles being held. > **[M.C. Escher's "Drawing Hands"](https://moa.byu.edu/m-c-eschers-drawing-hands/)** > > One of Escher's best-known images, this lithograph of two hands drawing each other presents several of the artist's favorite concepts. Most notably, it is an example of what author Douglas Hofstadter has called a 'strange loop,' a paradoxical system... Or a fairly obscure reference to my childhood memories, maybe the fish Trigger from Diver Dan and Baron Barracuda? I loved that guy. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/66 "2023-06-01T04:42:25Z")
3 rows of this Escher “winged lion” tessellation around my upper arm. [https://www.pinterest.com/pin/515802963542600499/](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/515802963542600499/) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/67 "2023-06-01T15:20:09Z")
Something useful I suppose - ideally something useful that I keep forgetting. “Treecreepers climb up, Nuthatches climb down” maybe ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/68 "2023-06-01T16:31:21Z")
[![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8a/50/51/8a50519b67fe41344e98804aa9ba9095.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8a/50/51/8a50519b67fe41344e98804aa9ba9095.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/69 "2023-06-01T18:43:06Z")
How about a leaf from Matisse’s work? It would say “This is not a tattoo”. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/70 "2023-06-01T18:54:46Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > How about a leaf from Matisse’s work? It would say “This is not a tattoo”. Great minds think alike. 😃 > [@Pleonast](#): > > I’ll never get a tattoo, because it would mar my beautiful body, but if I did, it would be script like _ **this is not a tattoo** _ along a limb. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/71 "2023-06-01T19:08:25Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > How about a leaf from Matisse’s work? It would say “This is not a tattoo”. Magritte, not Matisse… ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/72 "2023-06-01T19:14:15Z")
> [@Wilson](#): > > Magritte, not Matisse… Ummm I realize now you may have been alluding to Matisse’s leaf motif, in addition to Magritte’s “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”… That would be an interesting mash-up tattoo image. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/73 "2023-06-01T20:21:04Z")
I surely will when GusTattoo’s is apprenticed. And it will be a lightening bolt as inspired by @nicknacklou on Instagram. She’s a joyful beautiful hooman whose motto is go grab life, and, check your tattas. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/74 "2023-06-01T20:23:45Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > I love the illustrations that Jessie Wilcox Smith provided. If I were to get a tattoo, I would want a really good quality rendering of something he’s painted, copying his style. I don’t know if this is a typo, but Jessie Wilcox Smith is a ‘she,’ not a ‘he.’ ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/75 "2023-06-01T21:51:19Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Fifteen years ago or so, I briefly considering getting a tattoo on my upper arm. I never did, but I would have gone with either a 20-sided die, to reflect my primary hobby of role-playing games: I’ve thought about getting a D20 tattooed on the back of each hand, with the right hand showing the 20 and the left hand showing the 1, sort of like the classic “Love/Hate” knuckles tattoos. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/76 "2023-06-01T21:53:35Z")
I would also be tempted by an optical illusion tattoo. Maybe a figure ground one, like “All is Vanity”, shown in the article below. > **[The 3 types of optical illusions are a beautiful union of science and art](https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/optical-illusions-art-science/)** > > Optical illusions are amazing works of visual art that also teach us about the science of human perception. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/77 "2023-06-02T06:35:44Z")
This doesn’t quite count as an “if you have no intention…” because it comes from a guy I know who has a fair number of tattoos, but his plan for his next is a riff on stupid tourists: he plans to get the chinese symbols for “ramen noodles” ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/78 "2023-06-02T14:53:09Z")
> [@Wilson](#): > > Ummm I realize now you may have been alluding to Matisse’s leaf motif, in addition to Magritte’s “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”… That would be an interesting mash-up tattoo image. It probably would be, but I confess, I just meant Magritte. Simple slip of the brain! ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/79 "2023-08-04T04:20:29Z")
I’ve been thinking of actually doing one recently. I’m turning 64 and I’m considering before 65 getting a simple one that says “Best used by [a future birthdate]” Just not sure which date I want to use as still kicking past my expiration date. 65? 70? Or average future life expectancy year I get the tattoo? Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/80 "2023-08-04T04:31:55Z")
I saw a guy at the gym a half-year back, and he had a Möbius strip tattooed around each bicep. I asked him about his tattoos and, I swear on my grandmother’s grave, he said “Because these guns go on _forever_, dude”. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/81 "2023-08-06T02:57:49Z")
not too original here on what I _would_ get, but I think Adam’s ruler on the left forearm is pretty smart and practical … [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dw6gJE1VYAYDtig.jpg:small) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dw6gJE1VYAYDtig.jpg:small) - of course I’d go for an improved version: metric! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291.md?page=5)