Hi,
my name is Chris and I live far away from America , so my english isn´t good at all . Sorry for that!
The reason why I registered in this board is, that I´ve got a question to people, who speak english perfectly.
I´m going to get a tattoo in a few weeks. It´s " Loyal to those loyal to me".
I think these are true and great words, so I´m sure I want it.
Now my question is:
Is this sentense even gramaticaly correct? Till now, I always thought it´s ,Loyal to those WHO ARE loyal to me"
It would be great, if you could help me!
Thanks a lot guys!
I assume you are getting the tattoo done in english.
The phrase you have sounds grammatically correct to me.
Do you really want such a long phrase? Why not just have the word: Loyalty
Or do the inverse: “Screw me and I’ll screw you.” Because that’s the subtle message you are making by your original phrase. Don’t be subtle, be direct.
If it’s like: “I’m loyal to the people that love me and are loyal to me”, what about the people that are disloyal to you? How do you treat them? Would you still be loyal to them if they needed it? Or would you be disloyal to them as they had been to you?
I don´t need a girlfriend, who´s cheating on me and I don´t need friends ,who actually don´t want to be my friends, BUT I would not screw them…I´m a nice person
But if “Loyal to those loyal to me” in the english language means " Screw me and I´ll screw you" , then I´m not sure, if its the best idea.
So does it have this meaning or did you just understand it wrong?
You’re edging into the area of connotation, here, which can be tricky even for people who speak English natively. There IS kind of a hint of “Screw me and I’ll screw you back” in “Loyal to those loyal to me”, but it’s not overt. As a native speaker of English, I would tend to derive that subtext from the phrase, though it doesn’t explicitly mean that.
It’s VERY difficult to really explain to someone who doesn’t share the mindset of having been soaked in English since birth, though. It’s not that the words actually mean the negative phrasing, but it’s the undercurrent they carry.
If I were to try not to convey that (and I think I would try not to convey that…it could be taken as a challenge, depending on the kind of places you tend to spend time in), I would just get one that said “Loyalty”.
I would also suggest just “Loyalty”. That signifies that you are a loyal person and that the trait is important to you . Don’t put the qualifier that you will only be loyal to those that are loyal to you.
You are a great help!
Loyalty is a very good idea, too , but i want to advert to my family and my friends, the people who are loyal to me. People who aren´t can´t be called real friends, so I´d also like the tattoo, if some of them would be disloyal, one day.
But like I said, I´d definitly not screw or hurt them.
If my gildfriend is disloyal…then it´s ok for me, cause then she´s not the right one for me anyway…I´ll always be loyal to people ,who I love, so it won´t be a wrong decision to get this on my arm.
Frankly, do as Omar said, and dont go for too subtle a message, just go for:
“Screw me”.
You’re gonna get tons of friends and no cheating girlfriend, I assure you.
Avoid the suggestions talking about “screwing” - it’s vulgar in English, and sounds hostile, too.
Your original wording is fine. Adding “who are” would make it more grammatically correct, but also more wordy and not as suited for a tattoo. Adding more words may just increase the chance of messing up the tattoo, especially if the tattoo artist does not know English.
Well, “Loyal to the faithful” is great !
Unfortunatly, my dictionary says " the faithful" is only related to religious people, not to the people that are loyal to you… or is it a verb in this context?
I don’t see any problem with “Loyal to those loyal to me”. The complete sentence would be “I am loyal to those who are loyal to me,” but you don’t need the complete sentence. The “I am” and the “who are” will be understood and don’t need to be stated. The phrase “Loyal to those loyal to me” actually has more impact because it’s shorter than the sentence, and also is preferable to the sentence for a tattoo because it’s shorter.
I don’t get the “Screw me and I’ll screw you” thought. “Loyal to those loyal to me” suggests you might not be loyal to those who are not loyal to you, but there is a big difference between not being loyal and being vengeful. Reading “screw me and I’ll screw you” into it entails making a huge assumption and makes no sense to me.
“Loyalty” is fine if that’s what you want, but I don’t believe that’s what you want. Again, there is quite a difference between the broad concept of loyalty and the specific statement that you reciprocate loyalty.
So to answer your question, “Loyal to those loyal to me” is grammatically correct, and I think it accurately states what you want to say. I specifically think it does NOT imply “screw me and I’ll screw you.” Go for it.
It’s not a verb, it’s an adjective – or in this case an adjective noun, standing for “faithful people.” While “faithful” commonly refers to religious faith, it can also be a synonym for “loyal” with no religious meaning. Still, it’s not exactly the same as “loyal,” and in my opinion the message is clearer and stronger using “loyal” twice, and gets muddied up a bit using “faithful.”
faithful also means to be true to someone, for example it can refer to not cheating on your wife, or to looking out for your fellow troops, hence the military slogan “always faithful”
