from: Jamie D.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 1:43 PM
subject: My tattoo artist is talented but doesn't listen

So...I was told this was the symbol for 'chi' - a giggling oriental girl told me it means 'rice' (which I actually find hilarious.) Any other meaning????



米 by itself alone means "rice".

from: Paul J.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 5:49 AM
subject: another Hanzi Smatter

Hi Tian,

Ah yes, another victim gets a tattoo when they were a drunk teenager almost 16 years ago -- has a feeling it doesn't mean what they think it does.

Of course it means "STRENGTH", right??

Thanks! Your blog is hilarious, without trying to be.

Dr. P

ps, I can't wait to hear what it really means.



慉 means "to foster / to bear", not "strength".

from: W.J. H.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 11:43 AM
subject: Please Translate Ex-Boyfriend's Tattoo

My ex seems to think that his tattoo means "Hell's Warrior". The fella isn't the brightest crayon in the box and I would honestly be very surprised if he managed to get an accurately translated kanji tattoo in rural Idaho. Care to clarify it's meaning?



Top two character 地獄 does mean "hell", however 武 by itself alone does not mean "warrior".

from: Alex Y.
to: "tiangotlost@gmail.com"
date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 9:44 AM
subject: Friend's tattoo

Wondering if you could translate this. My friend thinks it says something like, "to learn as much as possible."

Thanks,

Alex



空 means "empty, hollow, bare, deserted".

from: Jen W.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 10:28 PM
subject: To Fight is to Suffer?

My neighbor directed me to your site after I mentioned to her that my husband had a kanji tattoo.

He tells everyone that it is supposed to mean something along the lines of "to fight is to suffer", and then it later came out that he had gotten the tattoo for his ex-fiancée soon after they split up (before we ever met).

I would be VERY interested to know what it translates to, because he says that he researched it really well before he was inked.

PS- He has said before that the dragon and the kanji are not related, and that they were drawn up at different times.

I would really appreciate your help.

-Jen W.



窮 typically means "exhausted/poor".

from: vicki
to: "tiangotlost@gmail.com"
date: Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 10:52 AM
subject: please help me translate my tattoo

so, i got a tattoo on the back of my neck on my 18th birthday and was told it would be the kinji symbol for "princess".

through recent research via internet, all i can find is "princess" being 2 symbols not one. can you ease my mind and hopefully let me know this means princess? if not, i would love to know what it means and which language is actually on my neck.

thank-you in advance!!



宮 by itself alone means "palace", not quite princess.

from: Brian L.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 3:36 PM
subject: Tattoo

Hi there,

I apologize for emailing you out of the blue but I’m hoping you can help me.

Many years ago I got a tattoo that was done by an artist who was allegedly Japanese and claimed could read Japanese. Today I now teach Japanese martial arts and I’m embarrassed to say that my tattoo doesn’t mean what it was supposed to. Can you help me translate this?

I’d greatly appreciate the help.

Regards,

Brian



寂 means "lonely" & 実 means "reality", however the compound phrase 寂実 does not exist.

from: Crystal F.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 7:53 PM
subject: wisdom and transience?

Hi,

I stumbled across your blog, and through my reading, I remembered my friend's new tattoo.

So, he claims the crane represents wisdom, and the characters mean "transience," (He posted the photo on Facebook, and in reply to a friend's comment asking what the characters meant, he said, "In this case it means transience.")

Additionally, he received his new branding at the *famous* Ed Hardy's Tattoo City SF (Yes, the Ed Hardy.)

So, is this correct?

Thanks, Crystal

How does 桜 (cherry) relate to "transience"?

from: Jeff L.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 4:44 AM
subject: My silly-ass tattoo

Hi Tian!

Very nice blog you have here. I was wondering if you could help me re-translate (hopefully correctly this time) my first ever tattoo!! (surprise!) The top should read "to excel", the inside should read "strength", the outside "to persevere", and the bottom "to find happiness".

Thanks!



In Japanese, 我慢 means "to persevere" or "patience, endurance, perseverance." However, it means "I am slow" in Chinese.

芽出度い, which can mean "happy" but can also colloquially mean "pregnant" or "crazy."

from: Carla M.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 1:20 PM
subject: Could u help me with my tattoo?

Hi,

I have a chinese tattoo and I'm probably the 200000th person who claims your help to know if I'm as stupid as all people who trust their tattoo artist... I had believed during 10 years that my tattoo means an "C" a "K" and an "S"...I'm right?

Thanks!!



Carla is another person with gibberish faux Chinese tattooed on her back.

http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/2006/08/gibberish-asian-font-mystery-solved.html

http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-set-of-gibberish-english.html

from: Lindsey O.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 11:51 AM
subject: tattoo

One of my exes has several tattoos that are either hanzi or kanji, though I am not sure which. I had always wondered if they actually mean what he believes them to, and was able to find a couple of pictures that had two of them (though, unfortunately I couldn't find any of the other one/ones). Those attached are supposed to say "way of the tiger" and "way of the dragon."



Granted these were not high resolution photographs, however 道大虎 and 道大龍 are not exactly "way of the tiger" and "way of the dragon".