# 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:** 5
**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:** [August 7, 2023, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/82 "2023-08-07T14:59:23Z")
I’d go for something lame like barbed wire around my biceps. So that’s why I don’t get tattooed. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/83 "2023-08-07T15:18:33Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > of course I’d go for an improved version: metric! Centimeters aren’t metric? ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/84 "2023-08-08T03:08:15Z")
There’s an xkcd for that. > **[Tattoo](https://xkcd.com/933/)** > > I calculate that the electrons in radiation therapy hit you at 99.8% of the speed of light, and the beam used in a 90-second gamma ray therapy session could, if fired with less precision, kill a horse (they did not let me test this). ---
**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 8, 2023, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/85 "2023-08-08T04:01:27Z")
It could probably kill you _and_ the horse you rode in on. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/87 "2024-04-19T14:28:37Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > logarithmic scale on each arm […] slide rule I like the cut of your jib! ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/88 "2024-04-19T14:29:44Z")
I would get a red line made with green ink. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BKorP55Aqvg/maxresdefault.jpg "The Expert (Short Comedy Sketch)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/89 "2024-04-19T14:42:17Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Adam Savage’s ruler tattoo. That is what I was going to say. I bought the template and visited a local tattoo parlor. The gal wanted $400. I’m still carrying my little Stanley tape measure. The price of tattoos is ridiculous, I got my only tattoo back in 1975 for $20. > [@Al128](#): > > of course I’d go for an improved version: metric! It’s both standard and metric. ---
**Author:** ![Rangerdanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/67e7ee/32.png) [@Rangerdanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rangerdanger)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/90 "2024-04-19T14:56:22Z")
A big black greasy chainring imprint on the inside of my lower right leg. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/91 "2024-04-19T16:17:27Z")
The third stanza of The Destruction of Sennacherib across my back. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/92 "2024-04-19T16:35:52Z")
Never considered getting a tattoo until last year my pre-teen daughter drew a little black star on my forearm when she was bored one day. I told her if I ever got a tattoo, that’d be it, and I’d want her to draw it again exactly as she did it (I even took as pic). We agreed that if she and I were both agreeable, we’d go on her 18th birthday and each get the same star tattoo on our forearms. My wife and teen son both said they’d do it too. So in four and a half years, I just may have a small star tattoo on my arm. Or not. It’s an everyone-or-nothing deal. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/93 "2024-04-19T16:58:57Z")
“Remember Sammy Jankiss” ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/94 "2024-04-19T18:02:35Z")
I think I would have to follow Magritte and have one saying “This is not a tattoo”. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/95 "2024-04-19T19:03:54Z")
I don’t have a single tattoo. I always thought it’d be fun to get a tattoo of a big black rectangle and tell people that it’s covering up an old, controversial tattoo that couldn’t be successfully removed. Then stand back and listen to folks pontificate on what tattoo could have been so bad that I covered it with a big, ugly, black box. Oh the stories I would tell! ---
**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:** [April 21, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/96 "2024-04-21T00:38:58Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > “Remember Sammy Jankiss” > [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > I think I would have to follow Magritte and have one saying “This is not a tattoo”. I like both of these! ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/97 "2024-04-21T00:55:59Z")
I would get some kitschy, 50s-style tattoo, something a sailor or biker might have had. Maybe a big red heart with a stiletto though it, and a flowing banner in front with my sweetie’s name. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/98 "2024-04-21T01:36:18Z")
My sons name. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/99 "2024-04-21T09:31:43Z")
Maybe a text passage and illustration from the Voynich Manuscript. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/100 "2024-04-21T15:30:27Z")
The Tree of Life. Only mine would have roots. Roots going down deep in the soil, drawing nutrients from the visible remains of various creatures who have died, and whose bodies now make the soil fertile so that life can continue. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/101 "2024-04-21T16:13:45Z")
(Didn’t read the whole thread.) I had breast cancer in 2015. All I needed was a lumpectomy. But if I need a mastectomy in the future, I would not have reconstruction but I would have one of these beautiful tattoos. Or two, I guess, if I needed it. I won’t post a link. Just go into Google and put in “mastectomy tattoos.” NSFW. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291/102 "2024-04-21T16:45:29Z")
I’ve played bass for quite some time, so maybe a bass clef symbol. Tho I imagine that is pretty cliche. And no idea where. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-no-intention-of-getting-a-tattoo-what-tattoo-would-you-get/974291.md?page=6)