Most people love their mother or mothers (children with lesbian parents and/or born from fertilized eggs via surrogate mother would have more than one mother). But, it takes a special talent to screw up “mommy” so bad that it would be read as “female horse rice”.
The young lady bearing this tattoo by Juan at Starlight Tattoo in Belleville, NJ, probably thought no one would ever guess what the two characters meant.
I've seen T-shirts and tattoos with the Chinese character 和 interpreted to mean "harmony." But many people don't know that while 和 can mean "harmony," in modern parlance most Chinese speakers use it to mean "and" or "with."
"Is the propagation of knowledge [of languages] a good thing, even when we know that it is often misused?"
I was told it was aired in "Freestyle" segment of the show later today (or tonight depends on which part of the world you living in.)
“My wife and I are looking at getting a couple of tattoos using Chinese characters, and since I am a longtime fan of your site, I thought I would ask you your opinion of Formosa Translation. Does this seem like a reputable translation service to you?”
“I think that is pretty shitty of you to encourage queries by listing emails people send you on your site, but then in cases where they do not lend comedic value, decline to help out.”
Tian,
Looking at your latest posting about a 'good' translation service, there is one generic piece of advice you can give out, basically you can't trust any of them. What do you do? Use many.
Basically, give the same query to two translations houses and see if you get the same result back. If not, you have an 'issue'. If you really want to make sure you are correct, you can also have one translate it, and then pay another to translate it back. Then again, that is pretty much what you do.
Several medical transcription companies do more or less the same thing, they do the work twice and then compare the two results. If there is a mismatch, both are redone. It costs twice as much, but in both cases, tatoo and translations, it is probably worth it. :)
“Wow - that is pretty ugly stuff. And what the heck are you supposed to tell her to write? She's better off using a stencil or going to a calligraphy class.
Tell her to use the zodiac symbols. They're standalone and straightforward. Plus it'll look cool to have ‘cock’ on a mural in the bedroom.
But she really needs to use a stencil – even her hiragana weren't good.”
“If what Valerie's client wants is a Chinese-inspired room, I wonder why she wouldn't try to get a Chinese painting or a pair of 對聯.
I think if Valerie would look at how Chinese decorate their houses, they don't write words on the wall. Instead, they would hang 對聯 (or 揮春 during the New Years) on the wall.
And I agree with you; her writing was terrible.”
“Dear (Name),
Thank you for your enquiry to Hanzismatter.com.
First, we must remind you that our primary purpose is to categorize the misuse of Chinese (and to some extent Japanese) in Western society, which includes the use of characters as artistic supplement simply because they are seen as 'symbols'.
While we understand that you have been asked to produce 'about ten' characters, we must refrain from offering any advice or correction on possible choices as that could be seen as an endorsement on our part.
While we admire your interest and, judging from the attached 'proverbs' picture file, must say that your writing is better than most submissions to this site, our principles prevent us from assisting in spreading the view of Chinese characters as exotic symbols that add an aura of Oriental mystique, when for us, they are a communication tool that more often than not is grossly misused in Western society.
However, you may want to enquire at Good Characters or someone who specializes in work that follows along the lines of your projects. We suggest making local inquiries as well, since depending on the size of your local Chinese population, it may be possible to hire someone with proper brushes and writing skill.
In summary, we cannot promote Chinese characters as art to be viewed and not understood. Should your clients desire a 'Chinese feel' to their homes, landscape paintings in the traditional style may be a better choice. We hope that you understand and wish you good luck in your endeavors.
Regards,
etc etc.”
I have just finished a phone interview with BBC Radio Five Live today.
I was told it was aired in “Up All Night” segment of the show later today or tonight depends on which part of the world you living in.
