Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share The Craziest Tattoo Mistranslations They've Ever Seen

People Share The Craziest Tattoo Mistranslations They've Ever Seen
Image by Tú Anh from Pixabay
Make us preferred on Google

Language appropriation is not wise on many levels.

For one thing, pictorial languages generally can ascribe several meanings to one picture. For another, sometimes a slight misprint or or change to the characters changes the word completely.

And then you're stuck putting your foot in your mouth forever when you decide to get that misprint tattooed.


u/10s10ahad asked:

People who understand Chinese/Japanese, what's the dumbest thing you've seen tattooed on someone?

Here were some of the answers.


Definitely Grand

Dude was so proud of his grandson that he had a tattoo that said "I love my grandson"

Except I'm guessing everyone just googled "I love my grand son" because it came out reading "I love fat boys."

Whoops

MisterComrade

Nom Nom Nom

I have the characters for Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow) tattooed on me. I knowingly did this, because I'm half Chinese and love shrimp dumplings.

I had a chinese girl ask me if I knew what it meant and I laughed and said of course, I love dumplings.

My chinese mother was not impressed but then laughed and said it was very me.

dayracoon

Labeling

I noticed some random white guy with some interesting tattoos (I think it was in an amusement park) and then got a little excited to see Korean tattoos, which You rarely ever see. They were written vertically on his each of his calves. One said left leg, the other said right leg.

Dumb and pretty cool.

ihaveiphone

Not Quite

Once when I was in university, working at a shop, a very fat lady came in with the kanji for "large" tattooed on her shoulder blade. I politely complimented her tattoo and asked what it meant. She said it meant "sassy".

prop-girl-3000

Dumplings Are Two For Two

I don't know if this was stupid or brilliant but someone had "您有小龍湯圓嗎?"which is respectfully asking if they had soup dumplings. I thought it was really stupid until someone said that they must really like soup dumplings...

1n1billionAZNsay

Beef Cake

Seen a few over the years but one that I remember most was when I first started learning Mandarin.

The guy had a tattoo on the back of his leg that proudly said 牛肉 which means beef.

komnenos

Could Still Be Apt

Japanese speaker here. Guy had one that read "トン勝" Someone told him that トン (Ton) means pig and 勝 (katsu) means to win. He thought that putting them together means to win against pigs (police?) とんかつ Tonkatsu means pork cutlet. I didn't have the heart to tell him.

RyuuAraragi

You Need Some Ice For That Self-Burn?

Not my story but a friend of mine:

She could read kanji and was in class one day noticing this girl's tattoo for the first time. Confused she inquired about it:

"What does your tattoo say?"

"High princess"

Turns out it actually said pig princess.

whereegosdare84

Doit

It always cracks me up to see people with single characters tattooed on themselves, especially characters for the natural elements. I imagine the same tattoo except it says "dirt" in plain english, and it makes me laugh.

ebitdaddy_

"Only Joking"

I met a girl when I was backpacking in China who knowingly had the characters for "prostitute" tattooed on her hip - she thought it was funny, and the only people who saw it would be ones she chose to show it to.

The Chinese guy who was drinking with us in the hostel was horrified, and suggested that she get another tattoo underneath which said "only joking".

SilentSamamander

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Miley Cyrus; Dolly Parton
Kevin Mazur/Atlantic Records/Getty Images; Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Miley Cyrus Breaks Down In Tears During Emotional Tribute To Dolly Parton At Hollywood Bowl—And We're Not Okay

This past weekend, Miley Cyrus performed at the Hollywood Bowl, and being on the same stage where her late godmother Dolly Parton performed countless times brought up a lot of emotions and memories for the star.

Cyrus reminisced with the audience about a time when she wanted to "experience" Parton instead of perform with her:

Keep ReadingShow less
Joe Rogan (left) and Michael Douglas (right) discuss Trump on The Joe Rogan Experience.
The Joe Rogan Experience

Michael Douglas Presses Joe Rogan On How He Got Duped By Trump: 'It's A Giant Quagmire'

Joe Rogan helped sell Donald Trump to millions of listeners in 2024. Two years later, the podcaster has some complaints about what he helped put in the White House.

And Michael Douglas wasn't particularly interested in hearing Rogan's customer-service grievances without getting to the part about the purchase.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of Ashley Hinson campaign stop

Iowa Republican's Request For Campaign Bus 'Gas Money' Sparks Pointed Response From Democratic Opponent

Iowa MAGA Republican Representative and Senate candidate Ashley Hinson asked a gathering of her constituents at a campaign stop in Fort Dodge, Iowa, to give her "gas money" for her campaign bus Wednesday, angering voters across the state.

After claiming that lies are being spread about her by Democrats, Hinson told the gathering:

Keep ReadingShow less
Hilary Swank
TMZ/X

Hilary Swank's Hilariously Awkward Autograph Request Goes Off The Rails After Fan Can't Remember Their Name

Some people will try to resell anything, especially in this economy, so a few celebrities are starting to discourage the reselling of their autographs. This led to an awkward situation recently for Million Dollar Baby's Hilary Swank.

TMZ was present when Swank walked out to a line of people waiting for her autograph, and while they talked to her about her pregnancy, current cravings, and encouraging women who might think it's too late to have a baby, the actress was busy with a fan who at first seemed too starstruck to speak to her.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jacob Tierney on Radio Andy; Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie on "Heated Rivarly"
Radio Andy; Crave

'Heated Rivalry' Creator Rips NHL For Failing LGBTQ+ People By Not 'Meeting The Moment'

Ever since Heated Rivalry premiered in November 2025, the Canadian series has become an international sensation.

The series, chronicling the secret romance of two professional hockey players on rival teams, managed to find universal appeal thanks to its combination of sports, romance, and LGBTQ+ representation.

Keep ReadingShow less