@cascade505 122440 wrote:
what do you guys think about egyptian hieroglyphic lettering on shoulder/arms?
Are you Egyptian? If the answer’s no, I don’t think so… I never get why people who aren’t chinese/egyptian/hebrew etc. get writing in those letters, but it’s your body, you decide. Don’t worry what other people think!
@
Cool! thanks for the advice as well 🙂
I will say this, I got my wrist tattoo (cliche, I know) with text (even worse!) because there was no image that could portray this word. Hell, the word is the art to me. As a lover of languages, I disagree that words are not art.
I have the word “thole” tatooed on my wrist. A cursory search would tell you it means “Endure (something) without complaint or resistance; tolerate.” But it is so much more. In Old English thole was a nasty curse. The sort of curse you gave someone when you hated (and I mean HATED) them. You wanted their day to suck so hard that burning hot oil on their nuts would seem like an improvement. You wanted them to suffer. It was vicious and vulgar. But by the time we moved into the Elizabeathen era with Shakespeare and Middle (soon to be modern) English it became a blessing for your most beloveds. You wanted them to suffer, yes, but only because suffering was now a virtue. You wanted them to overcome that suffering with dignity and become a better person because of what they endured.
Now tell me, how do you put all of that into a picture and how can you claim that word is not art? Does anyone else know what it means or why it is fascinating to me? No. But that doesn’t mean it is not beautiful.
@npaggett 130160 wrote:
I will say this, I got my wrist tattoo (cliche, I know) with text (even worse!) because there was no image that could portray this word. Hell, the word is the art to me. As a lover of languages, I disagree that words are not art.
I have the word “thole” tatooed on my wrist. A cursory search would tell you it means “Endure (something) without complaint or resistance; tolerate.” But it is so much more. In Old English thole was a nasty curse. The sort of curse you gave someone when you hated (and I mean HATED) them. You wanted their day to suck so hard that burning hot oil on their nuts would seem like an improvement. You wanted them to suffer. It was vicious and vulgar. But by the time we moved into the Elizabeathen era with Shakespeare and Middle (soon to be modern) English it became a blessing for your most beloveds. You wanted them to suffer, yes, but only because suffering was now a virtue. You wanted them to overcome that suffering with dignity and become a better person because of what they endured.
Now tell me, how do you put all of that into a picture and how can you claim that word is not art? Does anyone else know what it means or why it is fascinating to me? No. But that doesn’t mean it is not beautiful.
Welcome to the forum!
That’s fine if you want to go through life explaining your tattoo to people that have never heard of the word “thole”.
@Sam-I-Am 130162 wrote:
Welcome to the forum!
That’s fine if you want to go through life explaining your tattoo to people that have never heard of the word “thole”.
I tend not to explain it to most people. I just say I’m an English major, its a Middle English blessing. Their eyes glaze over and we move on. Now my friends? They know it because they know my passion for words.
@npaggett 130160 wrote:
I will say this, I got my wrist tattoo (cliche, I know) with text (even worse!) because there was no image that could portray this word. Hell, the word is the art to me. As a lover of languages, I disagree that words are not art.
I have the word “thole” tatooed on my wrist. A cursory search would tell you it means “Endure (something) without complaint or resistance; tolerate.” But it is so much more. In Old English thole was a nasty curse. The sort of curse you gave someone when you hated (and I mean HATED) them. You wanted their day to suck so hard that burning hot oil on their nuts would seem like an improvement. You wanted them to suffer. It was vicious and vulgar. But by the time we moved into the Elizabeathen era with Shakespeare and Middle (soon to be modern) English it became a blessing for your most beloveds. You wanted them to suffer, yes, but only because suffering was now a virtue. You wanted them to overcome that suffering with dignity and become a better person because of what they endured.
Now tell me, how do you put all of that into a picture and how can you claim that word is not art? Does anyone else know what it means or why it is fascinating to me? No. But that doesn’t mean it is not beautiful.
Was there a point to all of this? One or two words is generally not an issue, but for reasons gone over ad nauseum before, entire sentences or paragraphs are simply a bad idea for technical reasons if nothing else.
@D3FiANC3 130176 wrote:
Was there a point to all of this? One or two words is generally not an issue, but for reasons gone over ad nauseum before, entire sentences or paragraphs are simply a bad idea for technical reasons if nothing else.
Was there a point to me stating my opinion? Yes, it is my opinion. Was there a point to me refuting the (many times) mentioned opinion that words are not art? Yes, again, my opinion. So take a big deep breath and it’ll all be ok.
I have a text tattoo that two years later I adore and get compliments on when it sneaks out. Yes, it’s on a rib cage.
However, I think getting tattoos in text, generally, is silly. My tattoo is in Tengwar (one of Tolkein’s made up Elvish languages). It creates visual interest, unlike most text. It takes a degree of knowledge and artistic talent to get it just right, and I admire the artist’s ability to execute such fine lines. I could have got the same poem in English, but it doesn’t have the same artistic value or meaning to me. It’s provided a beautiful frame to get a theme of my favorite literary pieces on my left side. I love it. Eventually I plan to get a background starting with the color of daylight surrounding the top of that side where the text is, down to the color of night where I plan on continued literary theme tattoos.
All text tattoos are not bad. Text can enhance, but I don’t think it should be “all there is.” If it’s simple and in your spoken language, like a simple word like “freedom” or “Mom” or your child’s/lover’s name, then I think it’s best as sort of a compass directing back to the “main theme” if it makes sense. Text has its place in the tattoo world.
My wife has a text tattoo on her foot. It says “I love you bunches” and is a direct copy of her Mawmaw’s handwriting from a birthday card she gave my wife right before she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Meh, it was well done, it has a shitload of personal meaning to her, and she loves it. If that’s not what it’s all about, I don’t know what is.
I understand all the reasons against it, but to quote poxy from earlier in the thread, fuck people.
@Tecratt 131269 wrote:
I understand all the reasons against it, but to quote poxy from earlier in the thread, fuck people.
There are exceptions to everything. However very few for having text tattoos.
Knighthawk, it would appear you have an excellent reason for soggy nutted disdain, I am imagining your reply as a text tattoo. While the content speaks volumes beyond the average commentary, the depth makes the oceans seem shallow. Text is how it appeals to the individual, if you are tatting up your skin with inane ART or TEXT just to get noticed, that would be sad.
TexT! The funniest text I have seen is original, I looked over at this guy at the beach, and he had tiny words all over. He was in a tank top with shorts renting bikes with his missus. WTF? so I move up to him and look closer, His wife starts up, “Are you reading his tattoos? HONEY, He wants to read…”
His left arm had like NOTES some scribbled, various fonts etc and they were something like “LEFT ARM: COST UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME-CONDITION AVERAGE.”
Then a scribble,”Right arm is better for for writing, sports, and masturbating.
another was “Almost lost with leg purchasing car and house.
and like 30 “lefty” jokes/quotes
His wife pointed out her favorite, some shit about winning HER in a poker game, so he knows there was cheating going on and what a gyp, orally she couldn’t blow bubbles if she were drowning, something about how she drives, and this is all over him. sayings, reminders jokes insults LABLES “NECK” “SHOULDER” etc. The notes looked mostly newer. Maybe, I DUNNO! Older guy, with his yappy wacky old poker winnings.
He never said a word. but the fact that he was his own notebook was priceless.
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