Deer

Reader Dimitri emails:

"Hello Tian, I am a long time reader of your blog. Last week while visiting the city of Val-d'Or (Quebec) in Canada, I found the following plastic leg 'tattooed' in the front window of a tattoo parlor. In this picture, you can clearly see the character is upside down. Could it be they wanted to make sure the tattooed person will be able to read his own tattoo?"

The character shown on the leg is an upside down 鹿, which means "deer" in Chinese.

In Japanese, when it is combined with 馬 (horse); as in 馬鹿, it means "fool, idiot", and 馬鹿外人 means "stupid foreigner[s]".

Eternal Love

Reader Neko emails:

"One of my friends from high school recently got this tattoo. She claims it means 'Eternal Love'. I found 'Eternal' in my books, but could not find anything even closely resembling her version of love. Is it a translation I simply haven't seen before? I did end up finding a 'flash' version of this same thing online somewhere, but since I only saw it once, and it was flash.. I'm having a hard time believing. I'd love to get your input on it. :)"

The top character 永 means "long, perpetual, eternal, forever". The bottom character 疼 even though sometimes it is used to describe "dote, doting", but most often it means "aches, pains, sore".

Morals of the Story: Buyers Beware.

Condo Tiles

Reader Michael Bolduc emails:

"Tian, I am a realtor and these are in a condo a client of mine wants to buy. He's not wild about the tile mosaic around these tiles and is considering removing the whole thing. These tiles are on the facing of the breakfast bar. Do they say what is reported in English? Thanks for your help."

I have never seen "family" is referred as "亦作". Usually 家庭 is translated as "family".

亦 = also, too; likewise
作 = make; work; compose, write; act, perform




Despite the poor calligraphy, this tile was my personal favorite. The character shown is the simplified version of 熱, which means "hot". Mixing the Chinese character with the English caption, the tile is "hot love". This tile would be a good sell on eBay.




Bad calligraphy, correct characters and translation.

幸 =luck(ily), favor, fortunately
福 = happiness, good fortune, blessing




This one is correct as well.

生 = life, living, lifetime; birth
长 = long; length; excel in; leader

FHM Lithuania March 2005

fhmlt032005.jpg

Jennifer Virskus from FHM Lithuania has sent me a copy of March 2005 issue of the magazine, where Hanzi Smatter was featured on page 12's "Eggs of the World" section.

Since I do not understand Lithuanian, would anyone that does please translate it for me?

Thanks!

New York Yankees Kanji Cap

http://www.starbulletin.com/2000/02/15/features/story1.html

I know "New York Yankees" is "ニューヨーク・ヤンキース" in Japanese Katakana and 紐約洋基 in Chinese.

According to the news story, the character on the cap suppose to be Kanji for New York Yankees, but I have never seen the character before. Could anyone please verify that?

New Rules by Bill Maher

http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/20050513.html

Reader Jerry has forward this quote from Bill Maher:

"New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to 'beef with broccoli.' The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high." (more)

Old Navy's Temple of Strength Tee

oldnavy_yangshuo1.jpg
oldnavy_yangshuo02.jpg

I spotted this t-shirt at a local Old Navy store. I don't know if "Temple of Strength" really exists in Yangshuo. I also do not understand the significance of using the character 萬 on the shirt.

Update: Random Chinese Characters Used As Marketing Tool

Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 08:36:03 -0400
From: "oldnavy.com Service"
To: "Tian"
Subject: Re: ON-Stores - About Our Products; response-yes (KMM23799250V38116L0KM)

Dear Tian,

Thank you for your message regarding the Old Navy Yangshuo Temple of Strength tee, #299500. We appreciate the time you have taken to contact us regarding the design of this tee. Please know that there is no special significance to the characters on our tees. We appreciate your feedback, and we have forwarded your comments to our merchandising and design teams.

If we may be of further assistance, please contact us via e-mail at custserv@oldnavy.com or by calling 1-800-OLD-NAVY. Our Customer Service Consultants are available 24 hours a day for your convenience.

Sincerely,

Angie
Customer Service Consultant