Tattoo Boo-Boos

Yet another reason to think twice about getting a tattoo: A funny piece in Sunday’s New York Times about folks who get tattoos with Chinese characters, only to find that they don’t mean what they think they mean. These tattoo boo-boos are chronicled at the site of Chinese-born engineering student Tian Tang.

One elaborate tattoo posted shortly after his blog’s inception in late 2004 means “power piglet,” according to Mr. Tang’s translation. Another, on a woman’s lower back, says “motherly beast blessing.”

Marquis Daniels, of the Dallas Mavericks, thought he was getting his initials in Chinese characters but what his arm actually says is “healthy woman roof,” Mr. Tang said. Similarly, Shawn Marion of the Phoenix Suns was under the impression that his nickname, “the Matrix,” was tattooed on his leg, but Mr. Tang says the inscription translates as something like “demon bird moth balls.”

More at Tang’s site, including the above tattoo, which he says might be translated as something like “ease of gas retention.”