On Vacation

Dear Readers,

Starting on Dec. 17th, I will be traveling through Oregon and California for three weeks.

Thanks to the great folks at Gmail for hooking me up with Gmail Mobile, so if anyone has any tips about interesting places to visit, please feel free to email me.

In the meantime, please entertain yourselves with this Japanese etiquette guide about how to properly order and consume sushi.

Happy Holidays


-tian

"Ding Dong"

When I saw this photo, the first two questions popped into my mind are:

1. Is the witch dead?

2. Are the fries done?

The four-character phrase (circled in red) on this young man's left forearm is the literal translation that means "the sound of ding-dong".

Arbor Snowboard - "Push"

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Bewitch Hero Energy

http://flickr.com/photos/shadowbox/25270163/

Many tattoo shops prohibit any photographs to be taken in their shops. I never really asked why but have always assumed it has something to do with copyrights. It always makes me cringe whenever I see template displays in tattoo shops with incorrect translation and wrongly written characters.

Thanks to Flickr user “Shadowbox”, I found the photo shown above.

The character 化 with caption “to bewitch” is not necessarily correct. The Japanese 化かす does have “to bewitch” as one of its meanings, but the character 化 by itself only means “to change” or “to convert”, and “reaction” in Chemistry. 蠱惑 is often used to describe “bewitch”.

The last character in “hero” appeared to be mirrored. The three characters 主人公 only mean “main character”. If you ever stepped foot in a DVD store, you will know “hero” is 英雄, there is even a movie with the same title was made starring Jet Li.

The “energy” character 活 means “to survive” or “to exist”. Usually 氣 is used to represent “energy” in terms of “Chi” or “Qi”, and 能 is used to represent physical energy.


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Manzo's Tattoo

http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=789394

Reader Sam emailed me the photo shown above.

As one commenter has already mentioned in the original forum, these are random characters with two of them done incorrectly.


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"Friendless"

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"Hair Splitting"

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A51202/high/bmepb174881.jpg

The circled character 亳 is the name of district in Anhui, old captial of Yin.

In one of my previous postings, the owner with the same character tattoo claimed it meant "carpe diem", which is completely wrong.

Or the character should have been 毫 (fine hair; measure of length; 1/1000).


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"Shi"

http://www.shistudio.com (thanks to Jonathan for the photo)

Well designed business cards are necessary to attract potential clients’ attention. Shi Studio recently passed out these cards at a Toronto art show. According to their website, “Shi means poems in Chinese”.

That is absolutely correct.

Unfortunately, that is not what is printed on their cards.

The character on the card is 禅 (or 禪), which means “meditation”, and “shi” (or "poem") should be 詩 (or 诗).

Luckily, they did not make the mistake of printing 屎, which is also pronounced as "shi" but with third tone, on their cards. (Hint: This "shi" does not mean "poem.")


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Associated Press: Lost in Translation

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"Death Wish"

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"Fraud Blessing"

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"Gratitude"

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Raven's Lazy Eye

http://www.raven-eye.com/kanji_disks_1.htm

権 or 權 does not mean "balance", rather it means "authority" and "rights".

乾 in modern Chinese is commonly used to represent "dry" or "dehydrated". There was a Chinese emperor named 乾隆. In the book of Yi Jing (易經), it is used to represent "heaven".

Although any celebration would be a joyous occasion, 慶 does not mean "joy", it means "to celebrate".


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"Think"

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"Sisters"

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"Peter"

If you ever needed a reason to prevent yourself from tattooing your own name onto your leg in a language you don't understand nor speak, i.e. Chinese, this would be a good one.

Peter wanted his name in Chinese to be tattooed on his leg. Too bad, Peter was too trusting or naïve, and did not get a second opinion on the translation. He has put all his trust in the hands of his tattooist and tattooist’s unconfirmed flash book.

The tattoo does not say “Peter”.

But, there is a Chinese electronics company called 貝德爾.


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"Katherine"

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Shawn Marion - The Matrix

(thanks to Brandon for the photo)

According to a news report on NBA’s website:

“Sept. 24, 2003: Shawn Marion will be sporting a new look beyond the added pounds he piled on in the weight room this summer. A tattoo down his right leg in Chinese lettering which translates to ‘The Matrix’ was added to his body art early in the off-season.”

The three “Chinese lettering” Mr. Marion sporting does not really translate as “The Matrix” in Chinese.

魔 = demon, evil spirits; magic power
鳥 = bird
樟 = camphor (a plant where its chemical exact is used for making moth balls)

The movie “The Matrix” is translated as 黑客帝国 (“Hackers’ Empire”). “Matrix”, as in mathematical and logical condition, is translated as 矩陣.

Although, this tattoo could be a Japanese phonetic translation of “The Matrix” (マトリックス), many Chinese-speaking fans would probably snicker at Shawn “Demon Bird Moth Balls” Marion.

PS. Even his action figure has this tattoo on it.


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Asian Font Gibberish

According to reader “Quaz”:

“It is a picture of a tattoo taken by some racist, who apparently just downloaded an ‘Asian’ font from the Internet, wrote ‘SAY NO TO NIGGERS’ with that font and let somebody to tattoo it in his back. Of course, since languages don't work that way - which apparently is too much to comprehend for our little white supremacist here - the message is completely incomprehensible, as it actually is just finish with a strange font.”

The tattoo is complete gibberish.

Update: The tattoo shown here is suppose to be Finnish of “SANO EI LAKUPEKOILLE”, which is the English equivalent for “say no to niggers”. The owner of the tattoo used an “Asian” font to mimic the alphabets. What the fool did not realize is that the Chinese do not use alphabets. Way to show your racial superiority by using another culture's language.

Racists are idiots.

Einstein Wants to Know

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Ultimate Mandarin Chinese

Textbook is one of the basic tools for someone to learn a foreign language. When there are typos in a beginning-intermediate level Chinese textbook, usually students would assume they are “correct” and move on.

I wonder how the editors of “Ultimate Mandarin Chinese” would feel after reading this post, especially when the slogan on its cover says “The Most Complete and Up-to-Date Program Available”.

How about recheck your book with a dictionary?

人 = person
入 = enter

"Forever Cherish"

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A20925/high/arm.jpg

I wonder what she is "forever cherishing" (永遠懷念) about.

The poorly done tattoo, perhaps?


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"Bitter"

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GQ magazine Nov. 2005 Issue

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Etch a Mac

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The Seven Sins

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A51022/high/bmepb151995.jpg

Anyone who has ever read Dante Alighieri’s La divina commedia or “The Divine Comedy” (It was a required reading when I was in high school, and trust me, it was not an actual “comedy”) or watched the movie “SE7EN” would know about the Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Cardinal Sins.

"Superbia" (高慢, Pride), “Invidia” (嫉妒, Envy), “Ira” (激怒 or 憤怒, Wrath), “Acedia” (怠惰 or 懶惰, Sloth), “Avaritia” (貪欲, Greed), “Gula” (暴食 or 貪食, Gluttony), and “Luxuria” (肉欲, 色欲, 性欲 or 好色, Lust) are Latin names for the Seven Deadly Sins.

欲 is the simplification of 慾.

After viewing the tattoo above, I would like to add “improvidus” and “ignarus” to the Cardinal Sins list.


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Whole-Hearted Devotion

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A51022/high/bmepb152472.jpg

誠心誠意 is an old Chinese idiom that meant "in all sincerity", "with one's whole heart", or "whole-hearted devotion".

Ironically, neither the tattooist nor the client has devoted enough effort to make sure the tattoo was done correctly.


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SNL - Tattoo Removal

video: 5.16 MB mov

Jujutsu

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A50910/high/bmegl129515.jpg

One of the basic principles many martial arts share is not to flaunt. Unfortunately many students have completely disregarded this important teaching, rather brand themselves with superficial gibberish.

Does getting 柔術 (Jujutsu or Jujitsu) tattooed on your body really enhance your martial art skill and help you to find your inner peace? Perhaps getting the correct characters tattooed would help.

Regardless, you are now the laughing stock at your dojo (道場).


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The Four Seasons

(thanks to Terry for the photos)

Just because you have purchased the latest books on Feng Shui 風水 and watched way too much home make-over shows, it does not mean you have to jump onto the bandwagon. At least please consult someone first.

Twisted “Four Seasons” 春夏秋冬, that is definitely bad Feng Shui.


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