[QUOTE=Operation Ripper]
Hey, I love chicks.
[/QUOTE]
And we love you. No, really. I can only thank heaven above that I found out that you don’t like tattoos on girls before I got one. I can’t imagine the pain I would have experienced upon being rejected by you!
… oh wait.
[QUOTE=Rubystreak]
Then you don’t care what it means, particularly? That seems pretty dumb. Why use someone else’s language that way?
[/quote]
Why not? Language can be beautiful even when wholly seperated from meaning. When you can actually understand the language in question, understanding can sometimes get in the way of appreciating the aesthetic beauty of the words themselves. Admittedly, I don’t know anyone who’s gotten a kanji tattoo without finding out what the word means first (even if the meaning turns out to be incorrect) but obviously, a person who has “Happy” written on his arm in kanji is more interested in the aesthetic value of kanji than in happiness as a general concept.
[QUOTE=Miller]
Why not? Language can be beautiful even when wholly seperated from meaning. When you can actually understand the language in question, understanding can sometimes get in the way of appreciating the aesthetic beauty of the words themselves. Admittedly, I don’t know anyone who’s gotten a kanji tattoo without finding out what the word means first (even if the meaning turns out to be incorrect) but obviously, a person who has “Happy” written on his arm in kanji is more interested in the aesthetic value of kanji than in happiness as a general concept.
[/QUOTE]
I have a sneaking suspicion that this often results in the Asian/reverse equivilant of “Engrish.”
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena]
I have a sneaking suspicion that this often results in the Asian/reverse equivilant of “Engrish.”
[/QUOTE]
To me, that makes it even better.
Well, if Operation Ripper ever changes his mind about Kanji tatoos, he might want to have this one applied to his head. You know, to indicate the contents therein.
[QUOTE=lowbrass]
I seriously doubt people get tattoos just so they can stand alone in front of the mirror and say, “Gee, I sure like looking at my tattoo.” Especially if it’s on your back, where you can’t even see it yourself.
[/QUOTE]
I did. I have two on my back. Hardly anyone even knows that I have them. I NEVER go around without a shirt on, and I do from time to time use a mirror or two and look at them. I got them for ME, and only for ME. The only time anyone ever sees them is when they find out from someone else (because I don’t tell people about them) that I have them and ask to see them.
[QUOTE=Joey P]
I did. I have two on my back. Hardly anyone even knows that I have them. I NEVER go around without a shirt on, and I do from time to time use a mirror or two and look at them. I got them for ME, and only for ME. The only time anyone ever sees them is when they find out from someone else (because I don’t tell people about them) that I have them and ask to see them.
[/QUOTE]
But someone has seen it besides you. Sorry, I just don’t buy the “only for me” thing. I’m not saying you’re lying, I’m just saying that at some level, people who get tattoos are doing it for the purpose of being intriguing to other people, even if only a few people are going to see it, and even if they aren’t consciously admitting it. I’d bet a million dollars that a person living on a desert island who knew s/he was never going to see another human being, would not care about having tattoos.
Of course that is only my opinion, and you have every right to disagree.
I think I’m going to nominate this thread as “Most Judgmental” for the yearbook.
Me, I have a tattoo on the upper part of my left arm. It’s a traditional tattoo from Bellona, an outer island in the Solomons, and was done (using three needles bound together by thread and india ink) by a friend of mine who’s from that island. It has albatrosses, sharks teeth, and “Gupo” fish, a mythical fish. Me, I like it.
Now, is it tacky? Is it art? Is it offensive? Does it mark me as a wanker? The Romans had a saying about this, which was
De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum.
This means “Don’t quarrel about tastes and colors”. If someone says “Blue is the very best color”, or “Apples have the best taste of all fruit”, don’t bother arguing, there is no right answer. You think all tattoos are awful and offensive; me, I don’t. Tastes differ.
But your claim to have some kind of inside track, some divine knowledge about the real, actual, no-mistake, honest significance of tattoos merely marks you as someone who isn’t as switched on as the people 20 centuries ago … get with the times, my friend, stop arguing about tastes and colors, you’re just exposing your petty, small-town absolutism with your claims of revealed wisdom about tattoos. Yes, we’re here to fight ignorance … you might start with yours.
w.
I was with you up until that thing about colors. Yellow is clearly the best; wearing any other color is fucking idiotic. That’s simply a goddamn fact, you dumbasses, and if any of you disagree, you’re just revealing yourselves to be wankers.
ETA: Douchebag retarded holy hot goddamn Jesus fuck! Morons…
[QUOTE=Dante]
I think I’m going to nominate this thread as “Most Judgmental” for the yearbook.
[/QUOTE]
I haven’t judged anyone; I just gave my opinion as to what I believe their motivation is. I wrote absolutely nothing as to whether it is good or bad. Maybe you weren’t referring to me, but since your post came immediately after mine, I thought I ought to respond.
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper]
Ad hominem attacks are the white flag of debates, douchebag.
[/QUOTE]
If I were inclined to use signatures, I would use this one. Kudos.
In the interest of disclosure, I have a kanji tattoo that is supposed to mean “courage” but is actually gibberish and I have a tattoo in Klingon that is supposed to say “To explore strange new worlds, to seek out …blah blah blah… where no man has gone before” but is also gibberish, since the symbols I used were from the Star Trek Encyclopedia, before any system of Klingon writing had been established.
FTR, I am neither Japanese nor Klingon.
That sound you just heard is Operation Ripper popping a blood vessel.
Any fans of the manga/anime Eyeshield 21 out there?
If there are, you know what I’m thinking about…
[QUOTE=SnakesCatLady]
One of my tattoos is a tribal, given to me as a symbol of honorary acceptance into his tribe by a Chocktaw Indian. I guess I should not have that, because I am not an expert on the culture and do not speak the language.
[/QUOTE]
Well yes, that is my point. You aren’t a “Chocktaw Indian” and never will be, so stop posing as one.
[QUOTE=SnakesCatLady]
I pity people like Operation Ripper, who is so offended by someone else’s choice he has to make a Pit thread about it. I can understand Pit threads about getting cut off in traffic, or getting screwed by your boss, but the idea of being offended by what someone else chose to do to their body is pretty incomprehensible to me.
[/QUOTE]
You are dumbfounded by my criticism of people who get tatts without knowing their true meaning? Isn’t this board dedicated to “fighting ignorance?” Nitwit.
[QUOTE=intention]
The Romans had a saying about this
[/QUOTE]
Are you suggesting we today should regard “the Romans” as the standard bearers of taste?
[QUOTE=Dante]
That sound you just heard is Operation Ripper popping a blood vessel.
[/QUOTE]
Hehe, I love you man.
The worst poser tattoo I’ve ever seen was the ‘ohm’ sanskrit symbol on a guys shoulder. If you believe in Hinduism you wouldn’t have that on your shoulder, and if you don’t it’s worse.
[QUOTE=Sitnam]
The worst poser tattoo I’ve ever seen was the ‘ohm’ sanskrit symbol on a guys shoulder. If you believe in Hinduism you wouldn’t have that on your shoulder, and if you don’t it’s worse.
[/QUOTE]
Why wouldn’t you have it on your shoulder if you believed in Hinduism?