Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Chinese Letters for "I'm A Dork"
From an article on tattoo removal:
She thought it said "blood and guts," but it really said "blood and intestines." He thought it said "rock 'n' roll," but it really said "to sway and to roll."
Yeah, what all the Asian-character tats really say is "I'm a trendoid fashion victim, and I'm a big dork incapable of independent thought but trusting enough to let someone permanently emblazon me with words I can't read."
New York City jewelry designer Jane Ko, 30, who is Chinese-American, has been approached countless times by sheepish and somewhat befuddled strangers and acquaintances who have asked her to translate tattoos that they once thought were Chinese characters for attractive concepts like "power" and "love" but now suspect might actually say "General Tso’s Chicken special" or "gullible white boy."
I hope she has some fun with those opportunities. "Hey, you need to get your money back - this one says "Run, hide - I ate your cat, and you're next!""
From an article on tattoo removal:
She thought it said "blood and guts," but it really said "blood and intestines." He thought it said "rock 'n' roll," but it really said "to sway and to roll."
Yeah, what all the Asian-character tats really say is "I'm a trendoid fashion victim, and I'm a big dork incapable of independent thought but trusting enough to let someone permanently emblazon me with words I can't read."
New York City jewelry designer Jane Ko, 30, who is Chinese-American, has been approached countless times by sheepish and somewhat befuddled strangers and acquaintances who have asked her to translate tattoos that they once thought were Chinese characters for attractive concepts like "power" and "love" but now suspect might actually say "General Tso’s Chicken special" or "gullible white boy."
I hope she has some fun with those opportunities. "Hey, you need to get your money back - this one says "Run, hide - I ate your cat, and you're next!""
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I've never really understood the desire for body art any more than I understand people who want more than their ears pierced, but letting someone ink something on you that THEY don't even understand is just nuts.
My ASL teacher gave us an entire class on what NOT to sign after one of my classmates inadvertently signed something MUCH friendlier than "happy to meet you" to the teacher's dad. It was a subtle difference in finger position. I can just imagine how subtle differences in Asian characters could get interesting in a big hurry.
Thanks for the laugh
My ASL teacher gave us an entire class on what NOT to sign after one of my classmates inadvertently signed something MUCH friendlier than "happy to meet you" to the teacher's dad. It was a subtle difference in finger position. I can just imagine how subtle differences in Asian characters could get interesting in a big hurry.
Thanks for the laugh
I remember in college taking a class on teaching multi-cultural arts to young children. The instructor brought in a Chinese woman to show us some activities. One included using paint to draw the symbols for each season. We all dutifully copied what she did. She checked over our work, and then asked us why we all had a 'dot' next to the symbol for winter. Well, we had copied what she had done...but her 'dot' was just a drip from the paint brush. SHE knew its was a drip, but we had no idea. So I imagine those tatoos can say all sorts of things!
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