I'm not a native speaker, but I took a mandarin class for a few semesters a couple years back, and we always joked about mistranslated tattoos, so I'm tempted to get a certain incorrect phrase that came ip alot as a matching tatt with one of frirnds I made in that class
..what if…you could get ‘novelty’ press-on tattoos like that? Still hilarious, but your parent’s head won’t fly clear off their necks once they know it’s a joke 😊
@@beans8474 nah flip the script, western people are getting Chinese food accidentally tattooed on them, so she should get "fish and chips". - "it means peace, love and happiness" - it says pie, mash and gravy.
I've been holding myself back from getting 叉烧包 tattooed on me somewhere for like 2 years. It would be so funny. I'd just tell people it means something philosophical as a joke instead of steamed pork bun ajjshsh
David Beckham’s Chinese tattoo is a good one because the phrase is a proverb with philosophical meaning, and it is done in a beautiful, stylised written script, not just a computer - generated font (a lot of people’s tattoo has the Chinese equivalence of comic sans or Times new Roman … )
I studied Japanese in high school and I asked my sensei if people in Asian culture get random English words tattooed on them, and she said yes it does happen but not as often. When we went to Japan together we saw a Japanese girl with the English word “water” on her!
When I went to Japan I would laugh so hard at the signs on storefronts and billboards that started with “Let’s” followed by a noun. Let’s Wedding - dress store Let’s Donut - pastry shop 😂😂😂
I don't really understand why people get tattoos in languages that they don't have any basic knowledge of/any relation with. It's just so risky! One day an acquaintace came up to me to show me her new tattoo with a japanese character (I've lived in Japan before). It was supposed to be a tattoo for her daughter Camila, so she wanted to tattoo a "C" in japanese. Well, in japanese characters there is no "C", so the best option would be カ (Ka), but what she actually got tattooed was テ (Te). It was so awkward to have to tell her that what she got tattooed was wrong. But at least she now knows. 🤷🏻♀️ 🇨🇳
it can be tricky even when the foreign language uses the same alphabet (rihanna's "rebelle fleur" for example), but a tattoo in a language with completely different scripture AND grammar... kind of impossible to get right if you're a tattoo artist who doesn't speak the language imo
I agree it's risky, however, I have a tattoo of a phrase from another country (i don't speak the language but i travelled there and wanted to commemorate the trip with a tattoo). The way I made sure it was correct was to write it down (the translation i found on google) and ask locals to translate it for me. I asked several and they all translated the exact same thing, word for word, and even mentioned it's literal meaning as well as how it's used in the phrase. So, I think in this case, it was ok lol
It's not just risky, with chinese and japanese characters, it really feels like just another way westerners fetishize the far east. Just... very uncomfortable.
I was 20, when my ex and a few friends went to San Francisco to China town where a Chinese guy was doing calligraphy outside a shop. So I asked him to write my name. So he did on a framed card wall hanging. About 5 years later, I got it tattooed on the outside of my forearm. Years later, I was at the Buddhist temple in San Francisco and was buying some things and went to the register. The lady said hello, Kevin! I was surprised when she greeted me by name. I smiled and asked, "Have we met before?" She said no. She smiled and said she read my arm and pointed to my arm to each character. She said Ke means card, and Vin means fragrant. So you are Kevin! We both laughed. I said well I guess it was correct, and she smiled and said yes, it was written phonetically. So no worries. 🥰
I went on a tinder date with someone who had a hanja (Chinese character) tattooed. She insisted it meant "power" but it means fever. To prove it I even ran it through a Japanese, Chinese, and Korean dictionary to show her... she still insists it means power.
It baffles me that ppl forget slang exists in other languages. Sometime the literal definition as a certain connotation but it's slang usage could mean something entirely different. Like in English slang, Savage has a positive connotation while it's literal definition is derogatory/insulting. That's why you need a native speaker to look over these things lol
I studied Mandarin for a short time, the only word I could write with any consistency was the word Ai, meaning love. Also I heard a story about a guy who got a Thai tattoo, thinking it meant 'Great Warrior' but it actually said Coca Cola 🤣
What a beautiful phrase, "without winter there would be no spring." It reminds me of a saying I love, "without darkness, there'd be no light". Consulting a native speaker is a great idea for anyone getting ink in another language. There're so many errors that can occur, like Rihanna wanted a tattoo that said rebel flower in French. They translated as is, so her tattoo says "rebelle fleur" when it should say "fleur rebelle" due to the sentence structure of the romance languages.
I didn't speak Italian yet when I got my Italian tattoo, but I had a native Italian speaker look at it before I had gotten it, and even texted him a photo of the stencil to double check before we started tattooing. It's also a very famous phrase from literature and I was able to bring in the actual book (in Kindle form.) So luckily my Italian tattoo is right because I did my homework!
But a tattoo but I commissioned an art piece with some German text from an artist who was from Germany and moved to the US when she was 18. She sent me the "finished" piece and then emailed me again the next day to give me an updated version with fixed grammar. After living in the US for almost a decade an never speaking anything but English, she'd forgotten a German grammar rule. Sometimes even native speakers make typos, so it's good to have it double checked :)
@@blueyblue5831 I'm having a good summer break but after that I'll be studying even more Chinese actually. My tip would be to try to use it as much as possible (I found taking chinese classes with fun people helps) as Chinese is a very intuitive language, you just have to learn what certain phrases mean seeing as the grammar will only get you so far in understanding the meaning of certain word combinations. Talk as much as you can, be laughed at, once you're through the awkward "I don't wanna speak because maybe I'll make mistakes" phase, you'll get more focused on getting across what you want to say even if you can't do it correctly. Have fun learning Chinese!!
Hi! I believe to fix the "红" typo to "经", it isn't "工" that needs to be added, because it is already there, but the right-hand side part of "经" above "工". Just an observation as a native Chinese speaker! Tell me if I misunderstood
不經冬寒 哪知春暖 - love this phrase! Just so you know, while the word “紅” is pronounced “hong”, the character it should be changed to, “經” (transitional) or “经” (simplified) should actually be pronounced “jing”. So the entire phrase reads: “bu jing dong haan, na zhi chuen nuan” Love your videos!
in my opinion i thinks its silly when people who have no connection to Chinese culture get a Chinese character tattoo. like it makes sense for you and your brother to have gotten that idiom as you had lived in China for so many years, or for someone to have gotten an idiom that is originally in Chinese to get it done in the original script. i dont know if I'm the only person who thinks like this lol
@@DeafForever666 i just find it silly when. It turns out the tattoo means something entirely different than what they hoped it would be but they didn’t take the time to do the research into getting it correct
@@kyoten4101 dont worry they care what I think or they wouldn’t have commented. We all have thoughts and opinions and I just put mine out there to see who might agree or disagree
It’s funny that when I was working in China people would come to me to get English writing tattoos from google translation, I had to talk them out off it and same now I’m working in Toronto people wanting Chinese writing but also from google translation😅 one advice, always get someone who understand the language to do your tattoo !
David beckham's one is definetly one of the cool ones in a Chinese's eye, fonts are super important and make sure you get traditional Chinese its more artistic
Kinda cool to know that there's so few native Chinese tattoo artists even over here, because I worked in one tattoo shop as a receptionist and one of our most talented artists was a native Chinese artist.
this is kinda funny because im pretty sure Dr Candise got it the other way round - your tattoo can be easily fixed, but (if I've read your tattoo correctly from your photo) you need to tell the tattoo artist to add something ON TOP of "工" to make the word "经". the funniest part of this is how you got this done in Shanghai by a native Chinese speaker yet they still tattooed it wrong somehow.... how?
I see plenty of mistakes in written English from native English speakers. I'm sure there are people everywhere who aren't great with grammar and spelling.
Even funnier, the actual proverb is not 不經冬寒 哪知春暖 but 不經冬寒 不知春暖 (realize the difference in the fifth character). The first sentence means, (if you) never experience the cold of winter, how (do you) know the warmth of spring. But the second sentence means, (if you) never experience the cold of winter, (you will) not know the warmth of spring. Both are grammatically correct and some of you might prefer the first, but the second sentence is the actual proverb. Chinese people really like it when things rhyme and as you can see the first and the fifth character of the second sentence is the same. Honestly, the only possible reason I can think of is that the tattoo artist forgot the actual proverb and is just winging it from his memory and making a typo at the same time. Because the words are very colloquial. It's not some rarely used character. There's no way they can't read it.
not the same but i got two korean phrases (one on each forearm) as my first tattoos! the thing is i had been studying korean for 7 years so i actually know and understand what they say lol (plus o double checked with my korean friend from fear of having a typo😅). it is a little hard to explain when english speakers ask what it means tho. they say "수고했어" and "정말 고생했어" which means "you did well/worked hard" and the continuation of that, which could also stan by itself, "you really did well/endured alot". i got them because of one of my favorite korean singers passed away and in his final note to us he wrote he wanted to be told this and as an artist myself i really connected with that and i want to be told that as well, as i do fear failure....anyways i could never understand why people would get something they didnt know the meaning of or were actually sure of. i get that its hard with no native speaker to correct it but i would do some hardcore research or just not get it. whats worse is some people only get it to look cool and dont even care 💀 just using another peoples language just to up your appearance doesnt sit right with me.
i really do want to get that tattoo as well. I have been thinking of it ever since he passed away and every year I want to get it even more so, but am afraid the tattoo artist will make a mistake even tho I can read/check it. I'm glad you got them I do think he would also tell us that we are doing well despite the struggles
@@outlaw2725 💙💙especially this time of year and i got them around his bday (which is also by my bday and they were a bday present) i found my artist because she had done some of my boyfriends tattoos so i trusted her! Definitely find somebody you can trust to do it...i even designed it myself its in my handwritting because its from me to jjong but also from me to me.. i actually never really intended to get it tattooed but one day when i was trying to figure out what i wanted my first to be i realized it was perfect!
Oh bro... I think I know who you're talking about. If not this is embarrassing. Ive been studying Korean for 6 years and I wanted to get 시간이 지나면 on my arm from his song Dyphelia Grey (I think that's the English name) with a teel moon at the end, but I have commitment issues. Maybe one day
I totally get you and think the meaning is beautiful! 😭💠 he truly did so well 💕 I'm also studying Korean and got my favourite lines of my all time fav comfort song (봄날 by BTS) surrounded by cherry blossoms tattooed on my back by a super talented Korean tattoo artist and I couldn't be happier ☺️ Although I know what it's supposed to mean, I still got it double checked by Korean friends and ofc the tattoo artist himself, so my anxious self could never understand people who just get something in a foreign language they found through google translate permanently on their skin 😳
Tattoos aren’t illegal in Japan. I just got one. They’re definitely frowned upon though and many onsens and pools don’t allow people with tattoos to enter.
I was surprised to learn you'd spent so much time in China. I've travelled to China four times myself, so I have an affinity for the culture and people. I don't have any Chinese language tattoos though and probably won't get any. 🇨🇳
Going to a tattooer that doesn't specialise let alone know the language to tattoo Chinese is crazy. Such basic fonts, Beckham's looks like gorgeous caligraphy, it's art in itself.
Remember, if an artist deliberately gives you something different than what they claim it says, it’s fraud and there are both civil and criminal remedies.
Very interesting video. Reminds me of the t-shirts in China with random phrases in English that make no sense. As much as I hate the Internet it's doing wonders for worldwide communication and understanding between languages.
That feeling when you're always a real one but only watch UA-cam on the computer and don't want to go through the hassle of finding the emoji to copy and paste.
i really enjoyed this video very much! i really love that you do videos on all different topics, I’ve learned a lot just from watching your channel!🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳
Furniture made from camphor wood repels insects. Camphor chests are good for storing blankets and such because it keeps the moths away. Also, Iriss at Dreamhands in Auckland, New Zealand is a Chinese tattooist who does excellent calligraphy.
This reminds me of when I met a guy who had 屁理屈 on his shoulder. That means retort or, literally, fart phrase, in Japanese. He was infallibly convinced it meant “knowledgeable speaker”.
In a British comedy show (Bad Education) a character brags about how he got his takeout order tattooed on him... my friend is a chinese speaker and pointed out that the tattoo actually read "I'm a racist idiot who has a small penis" (something like that) and we both really enjoyed the level of detail in the scene and the thought that went into the joke
I actually got my only tattoo in China a couple years ago. I wasn't aware that it was hard to find artists cause I just walked into an empty shop and the guy worked on me right away.
I'm not a native speaker of either, but I've been learning Mandarin for a while on and off, and Korean for about 13 years. I've been so so tempted to at the very least get a fake tattoo that is just nonsense in either language and all the non-speakers can marvel at how cool it is...when in actuality it just says "bookshelf" or something. There are a lot of words in both languages I find really pretty, but I don't want them tattooed on me. I want the stupidest shit possible. Like, people always go on the language learning places being like "how do you say this in [language] for my new tattoo?" and at least some of the time, someone gives a joke answer. I long to see one of them in the wild. edit: there's a blog I've followed for aaaages called Hanzi Smatter which is dedicated to bad Chinese tattoos, I think you'd enjoy it! I don't think they're very active anymore, but there's a massive archive to look through ☺
Well tattooing has changed in China in recent years. So many tattoo studios and artists. Now not all of them are good artist but they are there. An apprentice did an awesome job on a part of my leg sleeve. What amazed me was seeing people with no tattoos get something on their neck or hands. I was worried I would have trouble working in China with my tattoos but no one cared.
I don't have any tattoos yet, but I've toyed with the idea of getting "translation error" tattooed in Chinese because I think it'd be funny. I'm not sure I'm gonna do it tho, I might continue pondering on it for a few more years. I don't want to have tattoo regret, especially not for a joke tattoo.
It has not been illegal to be tattooed in Japan since the '40s. You can be denied access to certain places such as shrines and other holy sites, you generally cannot use bath houses/hot springs (though I've heard they are now creating bath houses or areas of bath houses specifically for tattooed people), and I've heard of some people getting refused service at restaurants. But if you are just walking around with a tattoo you are fine. Interestingly though, when I was verifying that my facts were correct it was mentioned that tattooing is considered a medical act in Japan so if you do not have a medical license you could get in trouble. (But this sounds like it could be misinterpreted. Medical and health have similar connotations so it could be a license like any tattoo shop in the US but I thought needing a medical license to tattoo others was an interesting idea so I had to share it.)
Japan legalized tattooing again in 1946, it may be frowned upon, but it has not been illegal for decades. Japan and China both outlawed tattoos in 1936 while the war broke out. They were outlawed for 10 years, allthough the stigma has stayed strong to this day.
Many, many years ago, I remember a friend from USA which told me "On Fire" in Spanish as "En Fuego" was a very popular phrase, but in Spanish, the correct term would be "Ardiendo" or "Ardiente", which sadly it seemed didn't sound as good Anyway, I think getting a tattoo in another language could lead to embarrassment even when it's correctly spelled because the meaning could change from country to country For example, the music group called Spice Girls, I believe it means being a sassy, fun girl or something inocous like that. In Spanish, one translation could be "Picante" which would be more in tune with sassy, however, in my country, Picante is also slang for unwashed, gross, low life or any kind of derogative notions about a person
JKN-Just kidding News talked a out their tattoo fail. Two of the guys have been friends since childhood and one is Chinese and speaks mandarin and the other is Korean I believe, so when they went to get matching tattoos they wanted an even playing field so they got “Fear nothing” in Japanese. They assured their white tattoo artist that it was correct. Fast forward decades they were at a friends house who’s mother is Japanese and she asked her son “who is your friend afraid of?” They both were confused but apparently they didn’t in fact have the right translation and it says “I’m afraid of everyone.” 😹✨🖤✨ It’s now become a funny thing between them all and the rest of the guys are gonna get it too 🤷🏻♀️ hehe
5:17 im Not 100% Sure, but it Sounds exactly like the German word "kämpfer" which means "fighter"... I don't know why she would say it in German but the meaning fits a little bit more imo
It’s an extremely well known medicinal plant (even used in VapoRub) that is commonly used in TCM…. There are, however, restrictions on its use in some countries. It sounds like the guy translated the words phonetically - like they sometimes do with foreign last names. Like if your last name is Horse - it would not be written as the word/character for “horse” (the animal) but translated into characters based on the sounds verbalized (often creating nonsense words that, when pronounced, sound like the English word)… Example (going in reverse direction) the last name ‘Ma’ was translated phonetically into English rather than being transformed into the last name “Horse”.
for nicki's tatto it looks like hand writing from 九龍皇帝, not sure if the tattoo artist took inspiration from which was a graffiti artist or crazy old amn that drew chinese characters all over Hong Kong
@@KaidenOrgana huh? I’m sure it was legal before. I know one person who got her tat in JP in 2010. And PDR-San (JP UA-camr) got his tattoos before 2020 too.
Tattooing was defined as a medical operation, so tattooists had to be trained doctors to be able to practice legally. Late last year the Japanese government removed that requirement.
Agreed, Celle, the “Rooster” (A.K.A. as a “cock” 😶) was the worst mistake! Dr. Lin is doing a great service!! You wouldn’t happen to know anyone who does the same thing with Hebrew, would you? I’ve got what I believe to read (right to left) Jesus Savior in a Dead Sea Scroll script, however I’ve had some people tell me various things so I’m no longer sure..? Just curios. Very interesting video 😎 🇨🇳
🇨🇳 Wow this one was super interesting haha. I’m also kind of off the mind that if you’ve no ties to the Chinese language, not totally sure why you’d do it. But to reach their own, I guess…unless you’re that woman with the sex worker reference lol.
i agree with a lot of the comments here that it just doesn't make sense to get a chinese tattoo if you have no connection whatsoever to chinese culture. tbh it feels like a lot of athletes in particular get them just to have a visible tattoo, there really doesn't seem to be a lot of creativity going on with placement & font, "but at least it's more creative than getting the words in english, right". imo if they actually put more thought into the tattoos they could come up with something way more unique that still has the same meaning to them, just without being incorrect chinese. beckham's one is kind of solid though ngl
I want to get my chinese zodiac tattood (rat). You think I should also go to a chinsese tattoo artist? Or does it not really matter since the characters for zodiacs are pretty common and hard to screw up/ translate wrong
Don't just get any-old Chinese native to help you with your Chinese (or insert whichever language is relevant to your situation). Would you rely on Dave from the tattoo shop downtown to know proper English grammar (necessarily)? I didn't think so. I wouldn't even trust them to know simple spelling, to tell the truth. Just because someone is a native speaker doesn't make them an expert in the nuance or grammar of their language. Most people these days don't even know the correct usage of past participles.
Oh man to do everything right but still have a typo in your chinese tattoo is such a bummer! I'd be mad at the artist to be honest... especially as it's an idiom and not a custom phrase
Exactly I don't understand this trend. First of all, the Chinese culture itself doesn't value tattoos so how are you even showing appreciation to the culture by getting a tattoo. Also, even this girl in the video says she lived in Shanghai for 8 years and even she clearly doesn't read Mandarin bc her tattoo is wrong. I don't get this trend , it should've died in the 90's.
I will get a tattoo of the kanji for "myself" (自分) and I will use my handwriting for the font, so maybe it will also look like a kid drew it xD But I think the calligraphy is a bit too pretentious 🤷
Having the word “prostitute” on your arm is definitely not where it’s at. Even if someone were a sex worker, I doubt they’d want it written on their body. 😬
addendum: Not only a native speaker, but a native speaker you trust!! I'd have to problem tagging you as "General Tso's Bitch"... if I was a tattoo artist. And read Chinese. I'm sad now...
I'm a native Chinese speaker, and I'm low key so tempted to get a bad Chinese tattoo as a joke
I'm not a native speaker, but I took a mandarin class for a few semesters a couple years back, and we always joked about mistranslated tattoos, so I'm tempted to get a certain incorrect phrase that came ip alot as a matching tatt with one of frirnds I made in that class
..what if…you could get ‘novelty’ press-on tattoos like that?
Still hilarious, but your parent’s head won’t fly clear off their necks once they know it’s a joke 😊
You should get lo mein tattoo on you arm tell people it means peace
@@beans8474 nah flip the script, western people are getting Chinese food accidentally tattooed on them, so she should get "fish and chips".
- "it means peace, love and happiness"
- it says pie, mash and gravy.
I've been holding myself back from getting 叉烧包 tattooed on me somewhere for like 2 years. It would be so funny. I'd just tell people it means something philosophical as a joke instead of steamed pork bun ajjshsh
David Beckham’s Chinese tattoo is a good one because the phrase is a proverb with philosophical meaning, and it is done in a beautiful, stylised written script, not just a computer - generated font (a lot of people’s tattoo has the Chinese equivalence of comic sans or Times new Roman … )
the chinese equivalent of comic sans or times new roman 💀you just burned so many chinese brands with that
I studied Japanese in high school and I asked my sensei if people in Asian culture get random English words tattooed on them, and she said yes it does happen but not as often. When we went to Japan together we saw a Japanese girl with the English word “water” on her!
This made my day not gonna lie 😂
This really made me laugh 😂😂
When I went to Japan I would laugh so hard at the signs on storefronts and billboards that started with “Let’s” followed by a noun.
Let’s Wedding - dress store
Let’s Donut - pastry shop
😂😂😂
@@pineapplegirl8078 they need to adopt that trend here, idc what anyone says - Let’s Supermarket, Let’s Preschool, Let’s Funeral Home 😂 We need it
I really hope she has 3 sibling and they got fire, earth and air tattooed on them 😅
I don't really understand why people get tattoos in languages that they don't have any basic knowledge of/any relation with. It's just so risky!
One day an acquaintace came up to me to show me her new tattoo with a japanese character (I've lived in Japan before). It was supposed to be a tattoo for her daughter Camila, so she wanted to tattoo a "C" in japanese. Well, in japanese characters there is no "C", so the best option would be カ (Ka), but what she actually got tattooed was テ (Te). It was so awkward to have to tell her that what she got tattooed was wrong. But at least she now knows. 🤷🏻♀️
🇨🇳
it can be tricky even when the foreign language uses the same alphabet (rihanna's "rebelle fleur" for example), but a tattoo in a language with completely different scripture AND grammar... kind of impossible to get right if you're a tattoo artist who doesn't speak the language imo
I agree it's risky, however, I have a tattoo of a phrase from another country (i don't speak the language but i travelled there and wanted to commemorate the trip with a tattoo). The way I made sure it was correct was to write it down (the translation i found on google) and ask locals to translate it for me. I asked several and they all translated the exact same thing, word for word, and even mentioned it's literal meaning as well as how it's used in the phrase. So, I think in this case, it was ok lol
No choice but to rename her daughter to Temila
It's not just risky, with chinese and japanese characters, it really feels like just another way westerners fetishize the far east. Just... very uncomfortable.
I was 20, when my ex and a few friends went to San Francisco to China town where a Chinese guy was doing calligraphy outside a shop. So I asked him to write my name. So he did on a framed card wall hanging. About 5 years later, I got it tattooed on the outside of my forearm. Years later, I was at the Buddhist temple in San Francisco and was buying some things and went to the register. The lady said hello, Kevin! I was surprised when she greeted me by name. I smiled and asked, "Have we met before?" She said no. She smiled and said she read my arm and pointed to my arm to each character. She said Ke means card, and Vin means fragrant. So you are Kevin! We both laughed. I said well I guess it was correct, and she smiled and said yes, it was written phonetically. So no worries. 🥰
I went on a tinder date with someone who had a hanja (Chinese character) tattooed. She insisted it meant "power" but it means fever. To prove it I even ran it through a Japanese, Chinese, and Korean dictionary to show her... she still insists it means power.
"it can mean whatever you want it to mean" kind of deal i'm guessing xD
She was embarrassed, that's why she insisted lol
She could have just owned it and said she’s hot
If it was 熱 then it can mean fever but also zeal/passion.
Oh, I thought Chinese characters were called hanzi?
It baffles me that ppl forget slang exists in other languages. Sometime the literal definition as a certain connotation but it's slang usage could mean something entirely different. Like in English slang, Savage has a positive connotation while it's literal definition is derogatory/insulting. That's why you need a native speaker to look over these things lol
I studied Mandarin for a short time, the only word I could write with any consistency was the word Ai, meaning love. Also I heard a story about a guy who got a Thai tattoo, thinking it meant 'Great Warrior' but it actually said Coca Cola 🤣
Ai（爱）is a difficult character to write. it's also meaningful word in chinese culture and it can be a good and suitable character as a tatoo.
What a beautiful phrase, "without winter there would be no spring." It reminds me of a saying I love, "without darkness, there'd be no light". Consulting a native speaker is a great idea for anyone getting ink in another language. There're so many errors that can occur, like Rihanna wanted a tattoo that said rebel flower in French. They translated as is, so her tattoo says "rebelle fleur" when it should say "fleur rebelle" due to the sentence structure of the romance languages.
Dr. Candise Lin is such a legend. I love her videos. It’s so cool to see a tattoo expert and a Chinese lang and culture expert talk about these !
I didn't speak Italian yet when I got my Italian tattoo, but I had a native Italian speaker look at it before I had gotten it, and even texted him a photo of the stencil to double check before we started tattooing. It's also a very famous phrase from literature and I was able to bring in the actual book (in Kindle form.) So luckily my Italian tattoo is right because I did my homework!
But a tattoo but I commissioned an art piece with some German text from an artist who was from Germany and moved to the US when she was 18. She sent me the "finished" piece and then emailed me again the next day to give me an updated version with fixed grammar. After living in the US for almost a decade an never speaking anything but English, she'd forgotten a German grammar rule. Sometimes even native speakers make typos, so it's good to have it double checked :)
As a westerner learning Chinese, this video is so much fun
Yay love that :)
Any progress on your Chinese? I'm also learning but struggling bit ^_^ Any tips?
@@blueyblue5831 I'm having a good summer break but after that I'll be studying even more Chinese actually. My tip would be to try to use it as much as possible (I found taking chinese classes with fun people helps) as Chinese is a very intuitive language, you just have to learn what certain phrases mean seeing as the grammar will only get you so far in understanding the meaning of certain word combinations. Talk as much as you can, be laughed at, once you're through the awkward "I don't wanna speak because maybe I'll make mistakes" phase, you'll get more focused on getting across what you want to say even if you can't do it correctly. Have fun learning Chinese!!
@@djc.k9175 Thank you so much! :) good luck with your learning journey
Hi! I believe to fix the "红" typo to "经", it isn't "工" that needs to be added, because it is already there, but the right-hand side part of "经" above "工". Just an observation as a native Chinese speaker! Tell me if I misunderstood
Oh yea! You’re right! Well spotted
You’re totally right!! Thanks for double checking that
@@celle_tattoo no problem! Glad it helped
Yea! Thanks for catching that. Celeste should add 又 on top of 工 to fix the typo!
@@candiselin noo it’s not a 又, the top left diagonal shouldn’t be there! (Chinese here)
不經冬寒 哪知春暖 - love this phrase! Just so you know, while the word “紅” is pronounced “hong”, the character it should be changed to, “經” (transitional) or “经” (simplified) should actually be pronounced “jing”. So the entire phrase reads: “bu jing dong haan, na zhi chuen nuan”
Love your videos!
in my opinion i thinks its silly when people who have no connection to Chinese culture get a Chinese character tattoo. like it makes sense for you and your brother to have gotten that idiom as you had lived in China for so many years, or for someone to have gotten an idiom that is originally in Chinese to get it done in the original script. i dont know if I'm the only person who thinks like this lol
You’re not. Lots of other woke dbags crap their pants over “cultural appropriation”. No one cares about what you think of chinese tattoos
@@DeafForever666 not you going into a bunch of her comments sections to spew negative trite lmao, get a life
@@kyoten4101 move outta your mom’s basement
@@DeafForever666 i just find it silly when. It turns out the tattoo means something entirely different than what they hoped it would be but they didn’t take the time to do the research into getting it correct
@@kyoten4101 dont worry they care what I think or they wouldn’t have commented. We all have thoughts and opinions and I just put mine out there to see who might agree or disagree
It’s funny that when I was working in China people would come to me to get English writing tattoos from google translation, I had to talk them out off it and same now I’m working in Toronto people wanting Chinese writing but also from google translation😅 one advice, always get someone who understand the language to do your tattoo !
great video, I think your tattoo is nice the way it is and you and your brother do not need to alter it.
Lol thank you dad 💛
I'm rly glad that you show those gems of tattoo tiktok. This is rly entertaining even to non-tattoo people.
David beckham's one is definetly one of the cool ones in a Chinese's eye, fonts are super important and make sure you get traditional Chinese its more artistic
I’m sorry for your loss. The meaning behind your tattoo is beautiful ❤️
Really cool way for Dr. Lin to share her knowledge. Was fun to see you discuss it :)
Kinda cool to know that there's so few native Chinese tattoo artists even over here, because I worked in one tattoo shop as a receptionist and one of our most talented artists was a native Chinese artist.
This video is definately interesting & well done🎉
The moral of the video is to proofread any tattoos in a language foreign, or you will have 9 out of 10 embarrassment level.😂
this is kinda funny because im pretty sure Dr Candise got it the other way round - your tattoo can be easily fixed, but (if I've read your tattoo correctly from your photo) you need to tell the tattoo artist to add something ON TOP of "工" to make the word "经".
the funniest part of this is how you got this done in Shanghai by a native Chinese speaker yet they still tattooed it wrong somehow.... how?
perhaps not everyone is as well educated :) languages are hard in general (not to mention that it's a proverb) - Chinese has a lot of proverbs 😂
I see plenty of mistakes in written English from native English speakers. I'm sure there are people everywhere who aren't great with grammar and spelling.
Even funnier, the actual proverb is not 不經冬寒 哪知春暖 but 不經冬寒 不知春暖 (realize the difference in the fifth character). The first sentence means, (if you) never experience the cold of winter, how (do you) know the warmth of spring. But the second sentence means, (if you) never experience the cold of winter, (you will) not know the warmth of spring. Both are grammatically correct and some of you might prefer the first, but the second sentence is the actual proverb. Chinese people really like it when things rhyme and as you can see the first and the fifth character of the second sentence is the same.
Honestly, the only possible reason I can think of is that the tattoo artist forgot the actual proverb and is just winging it from his memory and making a typo at the same time. Because the words are very colloquial. It's not some rarely used character. There's no way they can't read it.
Just like "no ragrets"
not the same but i got two korean phrases (one on each forearm) as my first tattoos! the thing is i had been studying korean for 7 years so i actually know and understand what they say lol (plus o double checked with my korean friend from fear of having a typo😅). it is a little hard to explain when english speakers ask what it means tho. they say "수고했어" and "정말 고생했어" which means "you did well/worked hard" and the continuation of that, which could also stan by itself, "you really did well/endured alot". i got them because of one of my favorite korean singers passed away and in his final note to us he wrote he wanted to be told this and as an artist myself i really connected with that and i want to be told that as well, as i do fear failure....anyways i could never understand why people would get something they didnt know the meaning of or were actually sure of. i get that its hard with no native speaker to correct it but i would do some hardcore research or just not get it. whats worse is some people only get it to look cool and dont even care 💀 just using another peoples language just to up your appearance doesnt sit right with me.
Your tattoo sounds beautiful & I relate to that meaning as well 💕
i really do want to get that tattoo as well. I have been thinking of it ever since he passed away and every year I want to get it even more so, but am afraid the tattoo artist will make a mistake even tho I can read/check it. I'm glad you got them I do think he would also tell us that we are doing well despite the struggles
@@outlaw2725 💙💙especially this time of year and i got them around his bday (which is also by my bday and they were a bday present) i found my artist because she had done some of my boyfriends tattoos so i trusted her! Definitely find somebody you can trust to do it...i even designed it myself its in my handwritting because its from me to jjong but also from me to me.. i actually never really intended to get it tattooed but one day when i was trying to figure out what i wanted my first to be i realized it was perfect!
Oh bro... I think I know who you're talking about. If not this is embarrassing. Ive been studying Korean for 6 years and I wanted to get 시간이 지나면 on my arm from his song Dyphelia Grey (I think that's the English name) with a teel moon at the end, but I have commitment issues. Maybe one day
I totally get you and think the meaning is beautiful! 😭💠 he truly did so well 💕 I'm also studying Korean and got my favourite lines of my all time fav comfort song (봄날 by BTS) surrounded by cherry blossoms tattooed on my back by a super talented Korean tattoo artist and I couldn't be happier ☺️ Although I know what it's supposed to mean, I still got it double checked by Korean friends and ofc the tattoo artist himself, so my anxious self could never understand people who just get something in a foreign language they found through google translate permanently on their skin 😳
Imagine getting the word 'prostitute' on your arm and then going to that country 🤣
Tattoos aren’t illegal in Japan. I just got one. They’re definitely frowned upon though and many onsens and pools don’t allow people with tattoos to enter.
I was surprised to learn you'd spent so much time in China. I've travelled to China four times myself, so I have an affinity for the culture and people. I don't have any Chinese language tattoos though and probably won't get any. 🇨🇳
The best one I've seen in a video is a Japanese tattoo saying "chubby chaser" 😂
Going to a tattooer that doesn't specialise let alone know the language to tattoo Chinese is crazy. Such basic fonts, Beckham's looks like gorgeous caligraphy, it's art in itself.
Tattooing is not illegal in Japan…also, you should check out the bad English t-shirts in Asia. Hilarious.
Remember, if an artist deliberately gives you something different than what they claim it says, it’s fraud and there are both civil and criminal remedies.
😂😂😂😂 oh my god bro
Very interesting video. Reminds me of the t-shirts in China with random phrases in English that make no sense. As much as I hate the Internet it's doing wonders for worldwide communication and understanding between languages.
🇨🇳 great video! One of the reasons I'd never get a language I don't personally speak tattooed on me :)
Oh I LOVE this topic. Thanks for this! Loving every vid.
That feeling when you're always a real one but only watch UA-cam on the computer and don't want to go through the hassle of finding the emoji to copy and paste.
Ahaha no worries thanks for watching 💛
i really enjoyed this video very much! i really love that you do videos on all different topics, I’ve learned a lot just from watching your channel!🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳
Furniture made from camphor wood repels insects. Camphor chests are good for storing blankets and such because it keeps the moths away.
Also, Iriss at Dreamhands in Auckland, New Zealand is a Chinese tattooist who does excellent calligraphy.
dave beckham's chinese tattoo is probably the most famous chinese calligraphy tattoo on the planet lol
This reminds me of when I met a guy who had 屁理屈 on his shoulder. That means retort or, literally, fart phrase, in Japanese. He was infallibly convinced it meant “knowledgeable speaker”.
🇨🇳 Very informative, well done!
Oh my god that's why I read your tattoo weird and thinking maybe it's a saying I didn't know? but the font and meaning is really good though
In a British comedy show (Bad Education) a character brags about how he got his takeout order tattooed on him... my friend is a chinese speaker and pointed out that the tattoo actually read "I'm a racist idiot who has a small penis" (something like that) and we both really enjoyed the level of detail in the scene and the thought that went into the joke
I actually got my only tattoo in China a couple years ago. I wasn't aware that it was hard to find artists cause I just walked into an empty shop and the guy worked on me right away.
I heard about this but didn’t realize how common it was, great vid 🇨🇳🇨🇳
could demon bird camphor translate as phoenix (mythical fire bird?)? if so it could work.
I'm not a native speaker of either, but I've been learning Mandarin for a while on and off, and Korean for about 13 years. I've been so so tempted to at the very least get a fake tattoo that is just nonsense in either language and all the non-speakers can marvel at how cool it is...when in actuality it just says "bookshelf" or something. There are a lot of words in both languages I find really pretty, but I don't want them tattooed on me. I want the stupidest shit possible. Like, people always go on the language learning places being like "how do you say this in [language] for my new tattoo?" and at least some of the time, someone gives a joke answer. I long to see one of them in the wild.
edit: there's a blog I've followed for aaaages called Hanzi Smatter which is dedicated to bad Chinese tattoos, I think you'd enjoy it! I don't think they're very active anymore, but there's a massive archive to look through ☺
You speaking chinese was a nice surprise! It is a beautiful language.
i'm watching all her videos and catching all the feels
Well tattooing has changed in China in recent years. So many tattoo studios and artists. Now not all of them are good artist but they are there. An apprentice did an awesome job on a part of my leg sleeve. What amazed me was seeing people with no tattoos get something on their neck or hands. I was worried I would have trouble working in China with my tattoos but no one cared.
My first tattoo is also Chinese my Initials. But a friend at work said it was wrong. Lol. Anyway 🤣 I was 17.
I don't have any tattoos yet, but I've toyed with the idea of getting "translation error" tattooed in Chinese because I think it'd be funny. I'm not sure I'm gonna do it tho, I might continue pondering on it for a few more years.
I don't want to have tattoo regret, especially not for a joke tattoo.
There r some tattoo shops in japan akidearest got one
It has not been illegal to be tattooed in Japan since the '40s. You can be denied access to certain places such as shrines and other holy sites, you generally cannot use bath houses/hot springs (though I've heard they are now creating bath houses or areas of bath houses specifically for tattooed people), and I've heard of some people getting refused service at restaurants. But if you are just walking around with a tattoo you are fine. Interestingly though, when I was verifying that my facts were correct it was mentioned that tattooing is considered a medical act in Japan so if you do not have a medical license you could get in trouble. (But this sounds like it could be misinterpreted. Medical and health have similar connotations so it could be a license like any tattoo shop in the US but I thought needing a medical license to tattoo others was an interesting idea so I had to share it.)
honestly couldn't tell your tattoo was wrong until u told me, u can get away with a lot when its in the ancient style.
Japan legalized tattooing again in 1946, it may be frowned upon, but it has not been illegal for decades. Japan and China both outlawed tattoos in 1936 while the war broke out. They were outlawed for 10 years, allthough the stigma has stayed strong to this day.
Ngl younger me wanted a Chinese or Japanese tattoo but now that I’m older I’m so glad I didn’t do that because most of them are badly translated.
Many, many years ago, I remember a friend from USA which told me "On Fire" in Spanish as "En Fuego" was a very popular phrase, but in Spanish, the correct term would be "Ardiendo" or "Ardiente", which sadly it seemed didn't sound as good
Anyway, I think getting a tattoo in another language could lead to embarrassment even when it's correctly spelled because the meaning could change from country to country
For example, the music group called Spice Girls, I believe it means being a sassy, fun girl or something inocous like that. In Spanish, one translation could be "Picante" which would be more in tune with sassy, however, in my country, Picante is also slang for unwashed, gross, low life or any kind of derogative notions about a person
great vid ! always enjoying your content
JKN-Just kidding News talked a out their tattoo fail. Two of the guys have been friends since childhood and one is Chinese and speaks mandarin and the other is Korean I believe, so when they went to get matching tattoos they wanted an even playing field so they got “Fear nothing” in Japanese. They assured their white tattoo artist that it was correct. Fast forward decades they were at a friends house who’s mother is Japanese and she asked her son “who is your friend afraid of?” They both were confused but apparently they didn’t in fact have the right translation and it says “I’m afraid of everyone.” 😹✨🖤✨ It’s now become a funny thing between them all and the rest of the guys are gonna get it too 🤷🏻♀️ hehe
I have some sisters that has some dumb stuff in Chinese. I had someone translate it and it mean something like “I’m not a woman, I’m a honor man”.
Loved the shout out to Shane!
Another nice video 👍🏼 your voice is so calming 🇨🇳
You got a ring thru your nose like a bull so why not???😂
I do. It have tattoos but really love your videos. You are beautiful and very educational, so thanks and I am so glad I found your channel.
🇨🇳
I always just assume the Chinese Tattoo doesn’t say what the wearer thinks it says 😂
Thanks for another entertaining and informative video 😊
5:17 im Not 100% Sure, but it Sounds exactly like the German word "kämpfer" which means "fighter"... I don't know why she would say it in German but the meaning fits a little bit more imo
It’s an extremely well known medicinal plant (even used in VapoRub) that is commonly used in TCM…. There are, however, restrictions on its use in some countries. It sounds like the guy translated the words phonetically - like they sometimes do with foreign last names. Like if your last name is Horse - it would not be written as the word/character for “horse” (the animal) but translated into characters based on the sounds verbalized (often creating nonsense words that, when pronounced, sound like the English word)… Example (going in reverse direction) the last name ‘Ma’ was translated phonetically into English rather than being transformed into the last name “Horse”.
Hey i pretty much saw 4-5 of your videos and i really love It it's so wholesome
for nicki's tatto it looks like hand writing from 九龍皇帝, not sure if the tattoo artist took inspiration from which was a graffiti artist or crazy old amn that drew chinese characters all over Hong Kong
I'm confused, tattooing isn't currently illegal in Japan last I knew?
You would be correct, I believe it was September 2020 when it became legal. She got that part wrong.
@@KaidenOrgana huh? I’m sure it was legal before. I know one person who got her tat in JP in 2010. And PDR-San (JP UA-camr) got his tattoos before 2020 too.
@@yistgleichmmalxplusb You may want to do some research then. Legality doesn't necessarily stop things from happening.
Tattooing was defined as a medical operation, so tattooists had to be trained doctors to be able to practice legally. Late last year the Japanese government removed that requirement.
idk im really tempted to get 可以 tattooed on me now
Such a cool video
Agreed, Celle, the “Rooster” (A.K.A. as a “cock” 😶) was the worst mistake!
Dr. Lin is doing a great service!! You wouldn’t happen to know anyone who does the same thing with Hebrew, would you? I’ve got what I believe to read (right to left) Jesus Savior in a Dead Sea Scroll script, however I’ve had some people tell me various things so I’m no longer sure..? Just curios.
Very interesting video 😎
🇨🇳
🇨🇳 Wow this one was super interesting haha. I’m also kind of off the mind that if you’ve no ties to the Chinese language, not totally sure why you’d do it. But to reach their own, I guess…unless you’re that woman with the sex worker reference lol.
i agree with a lot of the comments here that it just doesn't make sense to get a chinese tattoo if you have no connection whatsoever to chinese culture. tbh it feels like a lot of athletes in particular get them just to have a visible tattoo, there really doesn't seem to be a lot of creativity going on with placement & font, "but at least it's more creative than getting the words in english, right". imo if they actually put more thought into the tattoos they could come up with something way more unique that still has the same meaning to them, just without being incorrect chinese. beckham's one is kind of solid though ngl
I love your tattoos
I want to get my chinese zodiac tattood (rat). You think I should also go to a chinsese tattoo artist? Or does it not really matter since the characters for zodiacs are pretty common and hard to screw up/ translate wrong
Wait a minute. You’re supposed to add the top part of 经 instead of adding a 工 on the bottom of the 2nd character. Hope you didn’t mess that up 😮
Don't just get any-old Chinese native to help you with your Chinese (or insert whichever language is relevant to your situation). Would you rely on Dave from the tattoo shop downtown to know proper English grammar (necessarily)? I didn't think so. I wouldn't even trust them to know simple spelling, to tell the truth. Just because someone is a native speaker doesn't make them an expert in the nuance or grammar of their language. Most people these days don't even know the correct usage of past participles.
Ha, funny stuff
🇨🇳 There were some horrible ones! A video about your tattoos would be nice too ;)
the megan fox burn tho...
if you are familiar with tiger balm? that is camphor you are smelling ;)
Agree with worst mistake
I think a good rule to have about tattoos is don't tattoo anything in a language you don't speak. Better yet, don't tattoo any language at all.
Don't tattoo any language?...
Oh man to do everything right but still have a typo in your chinese tattoo is such a bummer! I'd be mad at the artist to be honest... especially as it's an idiom and not a custom phrase
Don’t get a language you don’t speak tattooed on your body. They could literally anything.
Exactly I don't understand this trend. First of all, the Chinese culture itself doesn't value tattoos so how are you even showing appreciation to the culture by getting a tattoo. Also, even this girl in the video says she lived in Shanghai for 8 years and even she clearly doesn't read Mandarin bc her tattoo is wrong. I don't get this trend , it should've died in the 90's.
The “rooster” tattoo is like getting “painted lady” tattooed thinking you were conveying something about butterflies… yikes
🇨🇳 💛
Kämpfer means Fighter
I will get a tattoo of the kanji for "myself" (自分) and I will use my handwriting for the font, so maybe it will also look like a kid drew it xD
But I think the calligraphy is a bit too pretentious 🤷
Having the word “prostitute” on your arm is definitely not where it’s at. Even if someone were a sex worker, I doubt they’d want it written on their body. 😬
So you might say..,, she’s a cold killer….
addendum: Not only a native speaker, but a native speaker you trust!! I'd have to problem tagging you as "General Tso's Bitch"... if I was a tattoo artist. And read Chinese. I'm sad now...
I heard the word "hate" when it came to a tattoo, I think it's the first time :(
At least David Beckham got this one right, His Hindi tattoo is however spelt wrong.
🇨🇳
I’m getting one… with two typos 🇨🇳