Wow, I've heard of this happening but have never seen it myself. Until now that is.
Peter is indeed correct. I'm no linguist but when I was working in Tokyo I often had to go to our label's warehouse for inventory and indeed those two kanji are familiar. It is VERY easy to mix up certain kanji as often only one stroke can alter the meaning. It's even easier to mix things up when two kanji are used (known as a compound) as the same singular kanji can be used in conjunction with many others, but with completely different meanings.
Yeh Ive seen the result of this. A friend of ours (Girl) wanted a tattoo in Chinese to say purity. Instead of asking our other friend who has a Chinese grandfather for it she looked it up herself and printed it off for the tattoo artist. The slightest change in the kanji meant the wording actualy meant in translation "holy vessel - aka a Geisha aka nuttin but a cheap two bit ho!!!!!
She is not impressed
__________________
BFG
"The time for talking has passed, actions are speaking louder than words."
I apologize. I should not have put it in that context.
No harm done . Its just that Ko and I keed each other, privately, over each other's background (he, 1/2 Japanese, me 1/2 Chinese; we call it the battle of the Asian worlds in our house) - but we don't take it to a public forum.
Apologies to gymrat for the digression (hijack) of his thread! Sorry!
Peter's one smart guy. Sorry Terry - with that kanji, any day now you will be asking LD out on a date, eh? :P
__________________
"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right." - Henry Ford
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
I am at work, but your link is not working (site temp down). I will try again in a few hours. I haven't seen the page yet, but is is possible, that:
1. the "kanji" used was put there as a joke
2. the site was made by someone who does not 'know" his kanji and he/she got it elsewhere,
3. The tattoo artist or you miscopied it.
Anyway once I see the web version, it will be easier to tell. Give me a couple of hours. I will get right on it as I am sure you will want to know right away.
Glad to help
Peter
__________________
Peter
After all, diamonds are a girl's best friend…
hmm, the link works for me but those two characters together are indeed used to indicate rear entry. The character on the right means something like "way" (which in this case leads to a translation as rear way or entry) but the character on the left is the problem.
In particular the left most three strokes (called a "radical") which is itself shortened character that when attached to another kanji alters the meaning.
In this case the wrong radical was used (that one is used to signify "behind" or "rear") but I'm not confident of the right one.
Peter must have a Kodansha dictionary of Kanji handy or some equivalent, so hopefully he can pinpoint the problem. It might be a case in which if another radical is inked you can get the correct series.
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
hmm, the link works for me but those two characters together are indeed used to indicate rear entry. The character on the right means something like "way" (which in this case leads to a translation as rear way or entry) but the character on the left is the problem.
In particular the left most three strokes (called a "radical") which is itself shortened character that when attached to another kanji alters the meaning.
In this case the wrong radical was used (that one is used to signify "behind" or "rear") but I'm not confident of the right one.
Peter must have a Kodansha dictionary of Kanji handy or some equivalent, so hopefully he can pinpoint the problem. It might be a case in which if another radical is inked you can get the correct series.
Heehee..got our handy Kodansha right here.......
edit to add: if anything PM Ko if you need him to look through it for the meanings. If not for all the homework I've gotta complete right now, I'd do it.
I was able to check that page, and the "kanji" is screwed up. I check other ones, and they seem to be OK so it looks like someone made an error in that particular kanji. I have contacted the Admin so they can fix it. (no response yet) It seems like a legit site, and I am sure that they would want rectify it. I will let you know what they say whan I hear back from them.
Talk about a "random bad luck" in choosing that site. Anyway, the bad news is that Kuri was right about the radical. The good news is that it might be possible to "add a stroke" to completely change the meaning (into something positive). I will check some reference materials and get back to you on possible options. You won't be able to get the original meaning, but you will at least get something more palatable than what you have now.
Anyway, I will check in this order:
1. Regular Japanese Kanji (the Kanji you chose is Japanese, not Chinese) : though off hand I cannot think of anything,
2. Uncommon Japanese Kanji
3. Archaic Japanese Kanji ( I will check with a Caligraphy teacher, I know)
4. Chinese kanji ( there should be something here for sure, so don't give up hope)
However, for the best visual effect it would be best if we can find you Japanese character and hope that these are some acceptable readings.
The ideal character should be a combination of masculine kanji, with a strong reading.
Peter
__________________
Peter
After all, diamonds are a girl's best friend…
OK, doing some thinking about that radical. One possibility is that if you add one stroke it can be changed to "fire," but with many possible readings including "passion".
The problem is then we're left with something that might be construed as rather gay, as in "enter the flamer" ( something like experience male passion), which I'm assuming you don't want.
Any other ideas Peter?
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
In looking back at it, that image of Terry's tat is rather fuzzy/obscured. Are you guys SURE of the stuff you're saying?
I wonder how a print on my printer will come off. I'm heading over to the Oriental Grocery in a bit. One of the owners (a Chinese couple) teaches both Japanese and Chinese language at the local university. I wonder what he/they would say.
I wouldn't be too worried... With foreign cultures it is all a matter of context. "Enter in Rear" probably doesn't have the same frame of reference there that it does in the States. I wouldn't worry too much about it. They look really cool for one thing, and no one here really knows one way or another, so I wouldn't bother covering it up. 9.9 people out of 10 will not recognize those characters. You could probably even make something up and people would believe it.
To illustrate the point, I have had 3 framed pictures on my office wall with characters from the I-Ching for over ten years, and I wouldn't recognize them if I saw them anywhere else.
Location: Philly on one side, Pittsburgh on another, the Green Between...
Posts: 5,857
Just curious: Then why have them? Just me, perhaps, but I don't get why people who are not Asian have Japanese/Chinese/whatever characters around, either in the form of tattoos or pictures, or whatever.
Just curious: Then why have them? Just me, perhaps, but I don't get why people who are not Asian have Japanese/Chinese/whatever characters around, either in the form of tattoos or pictures, or whatever.
Good point, Fish. Why not just put "Dedicated" on your arm or wherever?
OK, so I printed off the pic -- not a bad print. I show it to Mrs. Chen at the Oriental Grocery. She looks at it, then talks in Chinese to a younger woman in there, who then looks at it. They jabber a bit, they each take turns nodding and shaking their heads at each other, then she says, pointing to the back of her store, "It say 'go in the back.' " Then she jabbers with the young woman more and then asks "Is this you?" I tell her no, and tell her it's somebody I know. Then she asks, "Why anybody put that on their body?"
But anyone who's ever been to Japan knows that there is plenty of funny Engrish to be seen too:
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
Linear Mode
