# Meaning of tattoo- three dots on hand **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715 "2001-01-18T17:31:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/1 "2001-01-18T17:31:01Z")
Anyone know what this tattoo signifies? I’ve seen it several times, seems to be three dots in a trinagular pattern, typically on the backside of the hand behind the thumb and pointy finger. We’ve guessed that its some sort of gang or jailhouse tattoo but are not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Arjuna34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Arjuna34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arjuna34)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/2 "2001-01-18T17:34:32Z")
Is it [this tattoo](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_084.html)? Arjuna34 ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/3 "2001-01-18T18:23:00Z")
Nope. It’s much simpler and I’ve only seen in on shady folk (leading to the guess of prisoners or gang members). Hopefully this’ll turn out OK in ASCII: . . . Just three dots in a triangle. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/4 "2001-01-18T18:25:07Z")
And it didn’t. It’s supposed to be a equilateral triangle, not a right one. ---
**Author:** ![smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smoke)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/5 "2001-01-18T18:28:06Z")
It means that some Quake enthusiast has his laser site on you. DUCK! =) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/6 "2001-01-18T19:55:31Z")
I’ve wondered myself. I had a client from the Netherlands who had this tattoo. I never asked him about it, but was always curious. I do know the guy had spent some time in some sort of home for troubled youth. ---
**Author:** ![Short](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Short](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/7 "2001-01-18T19:55:36Z")
A friend of mine from some years back had a similar tattoo (on his forearm, as I recall). According to him, it was to provide a “point of reference” for his recently completed radiological cancer treatment. Not clear enough on the details of such treatment to know what precisely this means. Why a large number of people would have it on their hand or thumb, I have no idea. Oh, he was one of the shady, Fundamentalist Christian types (they’re a gang, you know). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/8 "2001-01-18T20:07:51Z")
Wasn’t that the tattoo used by SPECTRE, headed by Ernst Stavro Blofeld? Also strikes me that it might the the mark of the Green Gang Triad, out of Shanghai? ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/9 "2001-01-18T20:19:12Z")
It started as a LA gang tattoo, popular with Hispanic gangs. It represents “surenos” (often shortened to “sur”), who are the gang member’s slain comrades. My source? Folks that I’ve arrested and interviewed as a private security officer. Of course, its popularity spread, and I’m sure the majority of the people now wearing it have no gang affiliation. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/10 "2001-01-18T20:28:58Z")
According to [http://members.tripod.com/~ibfletch/index-faq.html](http://members.tripod.com/~ibfletch/index-faq.html) > [@](#): > > 1. My niece has three dots on the web of her hand. Does this mean anything? > > Three dots in a triangle shape generally means “Mi Vida Loca” (My Crazy Life). While this does not in general indicate gang membership it does symbolize acceptance of the gang ideology. Three dots can also indicate allegiance to a Sureno gang (the three standing for 13). These dots are usually found on the fingers or knuckles. Often a single dot is found on the opposite hand for the one in 13. (Be sure to check both hands.) Norteno gang members often place one dot on one hand and four on the other for 14. They can also indicate a local gang tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/11 "2001-01-18T21:05:33Z")
Much thanks- that jibes with what we had thought. We figured out the teardrop and the masks but this tattoo had us stumped. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/12 "2001-01-18T21:21:22Z")
So what does all the Latino gang stuff have to do with my client, who, until I met him, had never been to the US? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/13 "2001-01-18T21:23:01Z")
My Dutch client, that is. ---
**Author:** ![pizzita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df788c/32.png) [@pizzita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzita)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/14 "2012-03-08T20:26:27Z")
The 3dots on your hand means “My Crazy Life” : . ‘Mi Vida Loca’:smack: ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/15 "2012-03-08T20:46:50Z")
Huh, I thought it meant 11 years late to the party. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/16 "2012-03-08T22:11:39Z")
I recently saw another interpretation of the 3 dots as “hospital, jail, grave.” It doesn’t speak any more highly of the bearer than membership in a particular gang. ---
**Author:** ![bonitahi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7993a0/32.png) [@bonitahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonitahi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/17 "2012-03-08T23:55:40Z")
Those are not tattoos you are seeing. They are inherited body marks. They are only found on aliens originally from the 4th Gentrosphere. These forms are usually found in colder climates and usually wear gloves or mittens so that their marks can not be readily seen. You are lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/18 "2012-03-09T02:09:43Z")
I’ve also seen it on white trash Peckerwoods, and have read that it indicates White Supremacist sympathies. To be quite specific, one source said that it means “I hate niggers,” but I have not been able to locate that source again. The placement of the tat in the web of the hand between the thumb and forefinger may be critical; the ‘Mi Vida Loca’ tat, as I understand it, is or at least can be located elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/19 "2012-03-09T09:02:32Z")
The three dots between thumb and index finger can mean almost anything. “Mi Vida Loca” is common, but so is “faith, hope, love”. In Europe I have heard it referred to as “the hobo tattoo” - signifying that the person has lived as a hobo for some time. I have heard older sailors here in Denmark call it “the sailer tattoo” as well. I have never heard about any references to white supremacy stuff, though. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715/20 "2012-03-09T09:05:54Z")
It sounds like a recipe for crazy misunderstandings, if this thread is any indication! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-tattoo-three-dots-on-hand/50715.md?page=2)