注意！高血圧！Works for me.
No need to apologize. I was definitely poking fun at myself, and honestly, I’m getting the kanji tattoo covered up anyway, since it is gibberish, although I am getting another tattoo that contains kanji. In the thread referenced in the OP, a few of our Japanese-speaking dopers are helping me out.
Well, then who cares that it’s trendy? I see people whining that people are just being trendy when they get one. How is it so horrible to follow this trend and not the blue jean trend.
Sorry. Still not getting it. It’s OK to pick a random character, but if you pick one that has meaning to you it’s silly? Why?
I don’t think I said it was. My problem with this particular trend is not that it’s trendy, necessarily. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with thinking that some trends are silly and some aren’t.
Because if you have absolutely no knowledge of that particular language, for all you know, it IS random. Don’t you think it’s silly to go around telling people that you have a particular word or phrase tattooed on you, while all the time the word or phrase actually means something completely different, but you didn’t know because you don’t speak the language you used?
What the hell are you talking about? Only one poster said anything about using a dictionary and they took classes in Japanse. Randomly picking characters out of a dictionary is the straw horse you road in on.
Others have or implied it. My point is that tattoos have reached the point where most people aren’t doing it just to follow the trend anymore. It’s so ingrained that it’s about as controversial as getting your ears pierced.
Nice straw man. I didn’t ask why it’s silly to get a tattoo without doing the proper research. It is quite possible to get a tattoo in a foreign language that means exactly what you want it to mean. With the internet, it’s actually quite easy to reduce the risk of screwing to almost nothing.
What’s silly about doing the research and getting the right word/phrase/idea tattooed using a language that you think looks or sounds beautiful? The only possible problem I see with that is if the native speakers of that language are for some reason offended by it.
If you need a dictionary to string together a phrase to get tattooed on your body, I’d say you’d be better off consulting a native speaker to be sure you got it right. No way I’d rely on one or two college classes + a dictionary for a lifelong statement, if I wanted it to be accurate. I never said anything about “picking random words out of the dictionary” either, so I guess we’re each jousting on our very own straw horse.
Well, I’m not responsible for what others say on the SDMB. As far as following trends, I think I’m not getting my point across about what a trend is. Piercing ears is a trend, too. Just because it’s very popular and uncontroversial doesn’t mean it’s not a trend. It’s just another way of saying “fashionable.” If it wasn’t fashionable to get ears pierced, then most people wouldn’t do it. The MORE popular something gets, the more likely the reason for doing it is to follow the trend. But I never said it was silly because it’s trendy. I just happen to think that in a lot of cases, it’s kind of a lame thing to do, and if you are doing it just because it’s trendy, then it’s even lamer. The lameness quality comes in when a person doesn’t really have a strong understanding of what they are doing when they tattoo such a thing on their body.
It’s not a straw man argument…I am giving reasons that I think that some foreign language tattoos are silly.
The fact that a lot of people have tattoos that don’t say what they think they say is one reason. If a person doesn’t fit into this category, then I’m not referring to them.
The fact that a lot of people are co-opting a culture that has no meaning to them whatsoever is another reason. If a person doesn’t fit into this category, then I’m not referring to them.
Nothing, necessarily.
That’s the last and probably most important reason that I have. Although I suspect they probably find it more amusing than offensive.
Never claimed you were.
Sure it is. I asked what is silly about getting a tattoo in a foreign language that one thinks looks nice and you answered that screwing up the tattoo is silly.
Moving the goal posts? I don’t think anyone disagrees with this.
Why? If they find the language beautiful, why is it silly to “co-opt” the culture? What exactly is wrong with “co-opting” a culture in this instance?
Changed your mind?
You know, this conversation is getting silly itself…it’s going around in circles. You asked me:
I said that I never said that. You said that others did. I said that I’m not responsible for what other people say. You said that you never said I was. Then why do I have to answer the question? If other people think it’s silly JUST because it’s trendy, then ask them. (Although I actually don’t think anyone really did say that.)
Not to mention all the other circles we’re going around in…so I’ll just say this…if you have one of these tattoos, then good for you…I’m sure you love it, and that’s great.
Personally, to answer your last question, I haven’t changed my mind about anything. This is the Pit, not Great Debates. I didn’t formulate my posts with the intention of winning an argument, I just gave my opinion. I think the vast majority of these tattoos are done by people who have no clue whatsoever if what they tattooed on their body means what they think it means, and I think that’s lame, and somewhat amusing. If you disagree, then that’s fine with me.
One or two classes? Are you sure that’s all aruvqan had? I’ve had more than that in a number of languages and I’d feel fine using a dictionary to make a phrase to write a tattoo. I’d just never trust myself to remember the spelling without double checking.
Oh, random characters. So sorry. :rolleyes:
You don’t. You’re the one who jumped into the “trendy” conversation. It wasn’t originally directed at you. I couldn’t figure out why you kept chiming in about the topic.
Who do you think I was originally asking?
I don’t. Nor do I have plans to ever get one.
It’s silly, but there’s nothing wrong with doing it. But why is it silly? That’s the question I can’t seem to get answered.
Why would you assume that? You have some sort of cite for that claim?
Nope, and I don’t need to.
Didn’t read the thread but…
Huh? What the hell are you smoking?
I have my nose and left eyebrow done, and am comtemplating ink someday. I am in no way lame or following the herd, I just wanted them.
You might be interested in the Featured Urban Legend today on Snopes (July 25, 2007) – it’s relevant to the thread topic:
I’ve already said that aruqvan is probably OK, with knowing native speakers and all. I wouldn’t “feel fine” if I needed to check a dictionary to get my tattoo right. I’d want someone who wrote and spoke the language to OK it. Wouldn’t you?
I don’t think you can deny that there are many other people, however, who DO just pick random characters and believe they mean things that they don’t. There are cites in this thread of people with nonsense phrases, reversed or partial characters, and phrases that are not what the person intended. THAT is absurd, I think. Of course, if you don’t care what it says, and just like the symbol as a picture, that’s your choice, but don’t pretend it’s a word, then. It has personal and aesthetic significance, but not linguistic. Maybe you consider that a nitpick. I don’t think a person can be TOO nitpicky about a permanent body alteration. But that’s just my opinion.
People do it. aruqvan might not be one of them. She has far more knowledge of Japanese than the average American, wouldn’t you say?
This thread reminds me, does anybody have a link to the site that has t-shirts worn by Asians with English words and sayings on them that make NO sense?
This thread is still alive? Resolved: tatted = posers/losers. 