from: Morgan D.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 2:51 PM
subject: Help with tatoo translation

Hello!

I was reading your blog- I love it! My father got this tattoo and he wont tell anyone what it means. Its been rumored to mean "man with many blessings" or "man with a big stick." Can you tell me what it really means?

Thank you so much!!!

-M



The characters 永 & 石 mean "eternal" and "rock/stone". Of course, the tattooed phrase is non-sense. However, it is very likely the person got this wanted to "rock forever" if he was into the music scene, or "[to be] stone forever" as a junkie. As many modern day rockstars are both.

永石 could also be Japanese names for えいせき (Eiseki), ながいし (Nagaishi), or よんそく (Yonsoku).

from: Emma L.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Fri, Jan 7, 2011 at 12:23 PM
subject: Chinese Tattoo?

My friend's boyfriend had this tattoo done with another friend whilst on holiday in Turkey. It was supposed to be his grandmother's name, but not only did the tattooist get his and his friend's tattoos mixed up, the lettering seems to be reflected as well. Would you be able to tell me what this actually means? Thanks, Emma x



1. Tattoo is based on gibberish font
2. All characters are mirrored

from: Raisa K.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 8:11 AM
subject: Hi!

This tattoo was taken when i broke up with my First Love, i was 22 then. We went to tattoo exhibit with my friends and my artist was the only one with oriental signs and their explanations. Altough i'm not sure they ment what they were intended... So, my signs explanation was "strength". My brother calls this tattoo as "noodle", so i think what ever this means or even if it doesn't mean anything, it will stay as "noodle" or in my head as "strenght", but surely i'd like to know what it means to others... :-D



It appears to be an unfinished 辰.

from: Ken W.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 10:53 PM
subject: tattoo translation

Hi Tian,

I love your blog, and I was wondering if you could translate what I got tattooed on my arm some years back. Thanks a lot.



莾 is antiquated version of 莽, which means dense growth of bush or rash.

from: Lucy
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 6:11 PM
subject hanzismatter - medical insurance notice

Hi,

Attached is a notice sent by the medical insurance carrier called Aetna. I'm almost sure the Chinese section is illegible unless Aetna is using some kind of crazy font.

Can you please shed some light on what's going on?

Thank you.

Regards,
Lucy


(full size view)

The Chinese text section does appear to be jumbled either from poor printing process or incorrect font.

from: Anna H.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 8:51 AM

Hello, long time reader and fan of your blog. I just came across this, and I smell bullsh*t.

http://www.makeyourownjeans.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=21_27_129

Anyway, go nuts :)



Alan and I briefly browsed through the website mentioned above and "Kemuri" section. We can't believe some place is seriously using the Gibberish Chinese Font as is! We will be on the lookout for gullible customers with embroidered butts.

What a bunch of idiots.

from: Karl B.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 3:34 AM
subject: Restaurant sign

Hi,
There's a sushi restaurant in Stockholm with this sign which is obviously not japanese, but even in chinese it doesn't *appear* to say anything coherent. Care to shed any light on it, despite it not being a tattoo?

- Karl

定価 = listing price
中 = within
低 = lower
冬季 = winter
大人 = adult
千円 = thousand yen
村 = village
高 = higher
内線 = inner line
年賀 = new year's greeting