# Teach me about tattoos **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 9, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368 "2025-06-09T14:30:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/41 "2025-06-10T15:30:12Z")
Spoken like a true Maradona fan. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/42 "2025-06-10T15:30:23Z")
I mean, Maradona is a known schmuck and he’s dead so that seems relatively safe. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/43 "2025-06-10T15:38:20Z")
I think Maradona was a Great Man ™, in His virtues and in His defects, Messi for example is a far better person, friend and family man, and probably a better football player too but he’s not as great as Diego. Greatness != goodness. We could’ve used a Diego when fascists won the elections in 2023, We didn’t hear a peep from Messi about the issue. I don’t blame Lio for that, he’s just a football player, we asked him to be Maradona in the pitch for decades and he delivered, we can’t ask him to be Maradona off the pitch too. (Something his wife and kids, at the very least, do not deserve!) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/44 "2025-06-10T18:54:50Z")
I have never had the slightest urge to get a tattoo. Their appeal perplexes me. I guess it’s because I’ve never understood the purpose of one. (Put another way, whatever purpose they have just seems alien to me.) And other than clothing, I also don’t wear accessories of any kind (jewelry, watch, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/45 "2025-06-10T19:07:32Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > My disapproval of my son’s tattoos was refuted by other members of the family who declared me to be an old fart out of touch with the modern world. I would guess that 60 - 80% of the population has at least one tattoo in Hawai’i, and for people under age 45 I think that estimate may be on the low side. I don’t have any, but I’ve toyed with the idea - I’d like one that looks like my avatar (which is based on a tattoo I found on line). I’m just a little concerned that my skin is too old (I’m 66). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/46 "2025-06-10T19:55:00Z")
One more thing: the cups can all be World Cups. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/47 "2025-06-10T20:07:37Z")
That would be cool, but I don’t know if it fits with the reason I chose that card. Legend tells that during the 2021 Copa America, in the player’s residence, they were playing a game, taking ten cards and trying to predict at least one of them. Messi chose the 5 of Cups, and won. It’s not clear if he chose that for any specific reason, but the legend soon overtook reality. Messi had played 4 finals with Argentina, and lost all 4, Copa America 2021 was the fifth one, and he won. Messi had player in 4 world cups, without success, this was the fifth one… Then this image of Maradona playing cards surfaced… with the 5 of cups clearly visible, it was obviously an omen of great significance! [![](https://www.infobae.com/resizer/v2/4HSUWCBNFBBQXI22T5UQU7ZZB4.jpg?auth=4f166bcd43e595fb5a0597390d205ed71156aa1cb767a8fed18cdd256ff44eed&smart=true&width=992&height=1323&quality=85) ](https://www.infobae.com/resizer/v2/4HSUWCBNFBBQXI22T5UQU7ZZB4.jpg?auth=4f166bcd43e595fb5a0597390d205ed71156aa1cb767a8fed18cdd256ff44eed&smart=true&width=992&height=1323&quality=85) I think the card should be the humble 5 of cups, without alterations. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/48 "2025-06-10T22:21:27Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I think it was Jimmy Buffett that said they are a _“Permanant reminder of a Temporary feeling”_. My tattoo, which I got when I was 19, literally translates to “impermanent” (in Sanskrit.) It’s in an annoying place, on my wrist, where it can sort of be covered by a watch but people still spot it sometimes and ask me about it which was never really my intention. I got it at the time to symbolize becoming a Buddhist and also remind myself of this concept of impermanence to keep me hanging onto life during a very dark time. I spent probably about ten years (age 30 to 40) regretting it, mostly due to cultural appropriation reasons but also because it can be a pain in the ass to hide at family functions, but I’m coming around again now that I joined a Zen temple where Buddhism tats are everywhere. Most of our clergy are extremely tatted up, bike-riding metalheads. Makes mine feel positively quaint. (It didn’t hurt that much.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/49 "2025-06-11T00:32:23Z")
My impression was that some Argentines are pretty talented artists. I can’t imagine they would generally charge American prices, or that tattoos of Maradona and Messi are not extremely common. I don’t think Frodo’s respect for these men is unique or unusual among _porteños_. Would it be possible to ask around, maybe from someone who has one you like, going to a street fair or stadium if necessary? I don’t particularly want a tattoo, and I generally dislike them more often than I like them on others. But were I to get one, I would insist on seeing them unwrap new needles and syringes and inks from sterile packaging. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/50 "2025-06-11T01:26:03Z")
I don’t think portraits work terribly well in tattoos, though. It’s just the wrong art form. I really like Alessan’s suggestion, which fits the form better, imho. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/51 "2025-06-11T03:35:25Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I was talking to a young lady who planned to get an eagle with spread wings, from armpit to armpit, across her cleavage. And she was studying to be a paralegal. I told her that if she ever expects to get a job in a law firm, she might want to rethink that. It it’s that low wouldn’t it be hidden under a work appropriate blouse? [![](https://d1fufvy4xao6k9.cloudfront.net/images/landings/112/model-2016-2-3.jpg) ](https://d1fufvy4xao6k9.cloudfront.net/images/landings/112/model-2016-2-3.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/52 "2025-06-11T04:04:17Z")
Yeah, I was wondering about that. I wear (and have worn since my youth) office garb that lands on the formality spectrum somewhere between “business casual” and “1950s librarian”, and I have never encountered any expectations that I should be showing cleavage, or any other skin below armpit level, in the workplace. I’m surprised that a paralegal would be expected to dress more revealingly. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/53 "2025-06-11T12:53:24Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > My impression was that some Argentines are pretty talented artists. This is true from what I’ve seen on Instagram accounts, I searched “tattoo artist Argentina” on IG, incredible work, many into realism and portraitures ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/54 "2025-06-11T12:56:28Z")
I googled “Maradona tattoo” and there really are very good image tattoos of him, along some middling ones and a few pretty bad ones, I’m not sure my budget can stretch for the good ones, I’ll need to (ugh) talk to strangers about that. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/55 "2025-06-18T09:04:07Z")
Lightly off topic, but a group of us South Africans went to Brazil for a music festival. After a few days (this was a seven day party, and we were at the party for ten, both before and after) we started an informal competition to see who could spot the worst tattoo, of which there were many. The winner had a tattoo on his back of a jeep on land, towing a water-skier on an improbable wave, so badly executed - but well detailed - due to perspective, concept, shading and general ridiculousness. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/56 "2025-12-01T14:32:26Z")
I have an appointment with a Tattoo artist for next Friday, I’ll post pictures afterward 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/57 "2025-12-01T14:43:30Z")
You said “teach me”, so that means the bad as well as the good. > Yes, tattoo ink under the skin can pose health hazards > > including the risk of infection from contaminated ink, allergic reactions, and potential long-term effects. Some inks may contain heavy metals or other harmful chemicals that can migrate to other parts of the body, like lymph nodes, and potentially disrupt the immune system or have other impacts over time. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/58 "2025-12-01T14:44:57Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > I have an appointment with a Tattoo artist for next Friday, I’ll post pictures afterward I hope it won’t be too painful and come out great. Will it be done in one session? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/59 "2025-12-01T14:45:19Z")
Thanks!, that’s one of my worries, If I don’t like anything about the place I’m going I fully intend to say NOPE and try again in other place. This place has been recommended to me, so I don’t think that will be the case, but if I see anything I don’t like I’ll scamp. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368/60 "2025-12-01T14:46:03Z")
Yes, because it similar to the simplified design **Alessan** suggested. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-about-tattoos/1019368.md?page=4)