That is really weird, Guin. I just clicked it again and it hit. Lemme clear my browser and make sure, maybe I coded it wrong. Sorry- it is a fantastic picture of your grandmother. 
Oh my god. I reset, and hit my link and it isn’t there. My apologies- upon Preview the photo did in fact link.
Kinda … wrecked the joke. Sorry. 
I just want to point out the potential humor of writing “self control” on your body from a language/culture that thinks tattoos are low-rent. Be prepared for discreet smiles from people who can read it.
I have friends with highly artistic tattoos. IMO they are in the minority in both content and execution. If you’re getting one then spend the money on an artist who won’t make it look like a prison tattoo.
The site you linked to is disabling hotlinking to images. Copy-pasting the link into the address bar or reloading the page makes it show up.
Cyrillic isn’t a language, it’s an alphabet. A lot of the Slavic languages use it, though, like Russian, which I agree is easy on the ears.
As an Asian in Asia (at the moment), I think that’s precisely the kind of silly those tattoos are. But at least t-shirts and stationaries aren’t permament marks on one’s body.
I really don’t mean any offense but how much personal meaning can something written in a language you can’t read have?
Tattoos (IMHO) are mostly for aesthetics and if you think Japanese* looks cool then that’s fantastic but I will warn you, if you come to Asia where some of us can read it, you will be mocked but you won’t understand so I guess that’s alright…?
*Japanese writing is heavily dependent on Chinese, especially for loftier concepts and words so you’d probably end up getting Chinese writing. I think the majority of English-speakers sporting “Japanese” tattoos have Chinese tattoos. But I guess most people can’t tell so it doesn’t matter.
OK, I hate to jump on the bandwagon here - and yeah, I know that it’s nobody’s business but the person getting the tattoo - but I and pretty much all the people I know think that Chinese/Japanese character tattoos are way played-out. I’m more of a fan of images and designs, but if you’re going to go for another language’s character, there are so many other alphabets out there that are less common and don’t carry the stigma of “frat guy/poser” the way the Japanese characters do.
For instance, I have always thought that this tattoo, on the right arm of Brandon Boyd from Incubus, was really cool and original. I have no idea what language it is and I’ve never seen another one like it. Also, it’s red, which seems to be kind of a rare color for a tattoo to be completely colored in. (Does anyone know what language that is?)
So yeah, I understand that it’s your decision and everything, but as you can see here, a lot of people think Japanese tattoos on non-Japanese people are pretty lame. Not that you should do things for other people’s sake, but I’m just saying. When you’re being embalmed for your funeral, many decades down the road, do you really want the guys preparing your body to be saying, “heh, another one of those Japanese tattoos. Man, those must have been all the rage back then.”
:smack:
I sit corrected.
If you can read Japanese/Chinese/what-have-you and have a fondness for the culture, why not? If you can’t even be troubled enough to take the time to learn the language, it does seem more than a little silly to me. To me, personally, it’s a little insulting when people adopt E. Indian things that they don’t know the first thing about! Not that I would ever dream of saying anything - I don’t even mock them - I just roll my eyes.
If I was ever to get a language tattoo, it would be English or Hindi since I can read and write both of those languages. I have a fascination with Japanese culture, I read a lot about it, I can even speak a few sentences, took Japanese years ago (though I didn’t learn much) and I still wouldn’t dream of even wearing a shirt in Japanese.
(I have some Chinese letter-things around my house, but my SO is Chinese, and I don’t wear the things with Chinese on them either.)
Other things that embody self-contol to me… (and I admit, my tastes may be odd)
A bird-dog holding point
Century plants
Showy Lady-slipper Orchids
anything that can successfully stalk prey
Gymnasts (Especially the guys doing the Iron Cross… yipes!)
Maybe there is something else that means self-control to you?
and then there’s this: if you’re wanting it placed ON the ankle, be warned. tats on bone can be very painful.
i have a very small rose (1.5 inches high by 3/4 inch wide) on my left ankle, just above the knob of the joint, which i got for my 40th birthday lo these many years ago.
a girl i worked with decided she wanted one too, and we ended up getting the exact same tat. i have a high pain threshold - so no big deal pain-wise for me - but my friend all but had a meltdown because it was so painful for her.
the artist that did us said most folks avoided tats in places like that because the needle action is akin to torture. there’s no fat layer to asorb the discomfort of three needles rotating in and out of your skin.
so, just sayin’.
I have a tattoo on each ankle, both of which have substantial amounts of black in them, and I can cover them up completely to where you’d never see them. Aside from the whole wearing pants thing, there is a pretty lengthy but not super complicated makeup routine I have for covering them.
Even then though, I’ve got one on my inner left ankle and one on my outer right ankle, people almost never notice them- even when I’m wearing shorts, skirts, etc. After months, people will scream, “Whoa! You have tattoos? You so just got those, right?!” Yeah, they hardly ever notice them initially.
Also, YMMV and such, but my experience with ankle tats are that they didn’t hurt at all. Well, the one on my outer ankle was a bit painful when he went over the bone, but other than that it was nothing more than a minor discomfort (I always describe the feeling of getting tattoos similar to that of being scratched by a cat- sort of a burning feeling that stings for a bit).
Oh, and one of my tattoos is in Arabic (and yes, I’m sure it means what it’s supposed to mean). Do I read Arabic? No, but I’m actually learning because it interests me. Why did I choose Arabic? Because I just think it’s a beautiful looking language. Plus, it’s really fun screwing with people when they ask what it means (“butt sex. It’s the Arabic phrase for butt sex”). But seriously, it’s nice because not everyone knows what it means, but I do. So it’s special (at least in my eyes).
Oh! And the people I’ve encountered that do speak Arabic think it’s pretty because it is a somewhat meaningful saying.
You should get them in Chinese, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic… every non-western alphabet you can think of.
Of course, just one may be the point of self control.
I suggest you show some self-control and not get the tattoo.
If you are getting what you want, I dont think you need to give a damn what other people think. Unless you plan on working in Japan, in which case people will think you’re a yakuza :eek:
I speak good Japanese, but I’m not quite sure of the natural word for “self control.” My dictionary said it was ‘jisei’, or these kanji （自制） However, it also listed 克己, kokki.
Aaaaah!! Wait, scratch all the above. I just remembered the perfect word.
Quoting the dictionary here:
“gaman
(n,vs) patience; endurance; perseverance; tolerance; self-control; self-denial; (P)”
It can mean all of those things depending on the context, although I think the first meanings are most prevalent.
It looks fairly nice IMO: 我慢 larger size 我慢
It will also be understood by every Japanese person, and not mocked for meaning something completely stupid or wrong. I’m not sure how the culture would view such a tattoo, but hey, you’re doing this for yourself and not for other people right?
This is from distant memory, but I seem to remember a friend telling me that just like in english there’s good and bad handwriting, and different fonts. Because most westerners just see it as squiggly lines they think it all looks the same - but when it’s actually your language you notice the subtleties. And because a lot of tattoo artists aren’t experts in chinese characters, it can end up looking fine to most people but crappy to those who can read it. For instance, wouldn’t you have a wtf moment if you saw a tattoo of “self-control” in toddler-like writing? Or “peace and serenity” written in a hurried scrawl?
Just something to think about and I could be wrong about this - hopefully someone will be able to confirm or deny.
Yes, with a chance that maybe it says instead “control self” “fles lortnoc” “zlef ocntrol”, etc, and could be in either Times New Roman, Comic Sans, or chicken-scratch scrawl.
Your body, your business, I say.
Why not go to a high school or local college and talk to a Japanese teacher? I think it would serve you well to take your time and get it exactly right.
Get this done by a Japanese tattoo artist.
This site says that lions are (or were, not sure) a symbol of self-control in Egyptian culture. The site seems fairly, um, New Age, though, so I dunno if it’s true. However, lions are very cool animals in their way.