Asian character tattoos have long been in style, with millions of brooding youths, aging hippies and pseudo-intellectuals seeking to express their world view via a couple of exotic-looking symbols etched into their skin.
亚洲文字纹身长久以来为万千新新人类、嬉皮潮人及诸多伪知识分子所推崇。他们热衷此类怪异图形，将其纹在自己的皮肤上，借此表达他们独特的世界观。
But many of the body art enthusiasts with a taste for the ‘Orient’ do not bother to research what is it exactly they are having permanently inked on their ankle or lower back, to disastrous - and hilarious - results.
可是许多拥有“东方艺术”情节的纹身爱好者们，却从不去探究他们烙印在四肢关节或者后背上的东西到底会有何等毁灭性的搞笑效果。
The Hanzi Smatter blog, run by Tian Tang, has been trying to set the record straight by chronicling the ‘misuse of Chinese characters in Western culture’ and translating would-be ‘Asian’ tattoos for the benefit his readers.
由唐天(音译)负责运作的汉字文化博客最近对西方文化中汉子的误用及“东方文化”纹身的误译列出了直接的追溯记录，以此为广大博客读者提供指引帮助。
In the best-case scenario, the symbols turn out to be meaningless gibberish designed to look like an actual word, or a poor translation of a Western name into Chinese.
某些经典案例中，纹身的图案看似是文字，实则只是一堆无意义的怪异图形组合。也有一些是西方词汇的汉语翻译，与原文也许相去甚远。
But at times, Tian encounters real head-scratchers. In one case, a fierce ‘Outlaw’ tattoo ended up translating to the less-than-threatening ‘Hiding Criminal,’ or alternatively, a ‘Snitch.’
时不时唐天还会引用一些具体的案例，比如，有一个人想用纹身表达“逃犯”，却误翻成了“藏匿犯”，或者也有的写作了“贼”。
In a more macabre twist, a tattoo that was supposed to say ‘Fear No Man’ improbably turned out to be ‘Coffin Man.
一个以死亡为主题的纹身中，本来其主人想表达“无所畏惧”的含义，而纹上的字却是“棺材佬”。
On a similar note, one young lady wished to have the word ‘Bitch’ carved into her skin, but the artist took some liberties with the language and instead inked the words ‘Cheap Whore’.
还有个案例，一名年轻女性想要在皮肤上纹上“女王”字样，可是文字经过纹身者的自由发挥，纹成了“廉价妓女”。
In many cases, the calligraphy is so poor and the combination of symbols appears so random that it is hard for Tang to figure out what exactly the person getting the tattoo had in mind when he or she went to get inked.
许多案例中，纹身的字都写得很糟糕，而且字的上下左右排布都是非常随机的。唐天甚至都没法辨认出这些人去纹身的时候，究竟想纹什么在身上。
Among the more colourful examples in this category is ‘Golden Pig’ (with the symbol for ‘Pig’ upside down)； ‘I Am slow/Pregnant’ and ‘My Abusive Husband Pimps Me Out.’
’最鲜亮的例子就是“金猪”纹身(猪字还倒过来了)，“我很慢/我怀孕了”，以及“恶夫将我卖”。
But nothing captures the predicament of getting a tattoo in a language you don’t know than the case of the person who meant to get inked with symbols for ‘Loyalty,’ only to end up with ‘Noodles’ permanently carved into his body.
不过最囧的情况是有人想在身上纹个“忠”，最后却永远的纹上了繁体的“面”字。
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