Spelling errors, syntax errors, even complete mistranslations: tattooing a quote in a foreign language is not without risk. To avoid ending up with a tattoo that doesn't make any sense, it's better to get a tattoo on your back.
A quote in a foreign language: a great classic tattoo
Lyrics, philosophical quotes or simply translations of our favorite words: tattooing in a foreign language assumes that the future tattooer knows what he's talking about... and this doesn't must always be right.
Know the vocabulary and conjugations of the target language
There's nothing wrong with getting a tattoo in a foreign language, but you have to be sure to write a meaningful sentence. Therefore, having a tattoo in English, German, Italian or Spanish requires the tattooist to know how to write correctly in the chosen language. Not every tattoo artist will be nervous about putting ink dragon skull the skin. You must know how to choose the right vocabulary to use and know the conjugations at hand. To correctly translate a quote into a foreign language, you should not take the first word in a dictionary without understanding what it refers to. A word can have many meanings. Also, be careful with online translators who translate roughly. Finally, it is clear that oral transcription should be avoided. Just because a word is pronounced one way does not necessarily mean that it is written as it is heard.
To avoid ending up like Rihanna with the "Rebellious Flower" tattoo instead of the "Rebellion Flower" tattoo, you shouldn't just translate individual words into the target language. In Rihanna's case, the words appear to have been translated in this way and joined together as in the case of English, namely the adjective before the noun. However, in French, adjectives are usually placed after the noun they modify. A mistake that could have been avoided if the male singer had consulted the locals.
Please read through the quote before tattooing it
Even if there are techniques to remove it, a tattoo is theoretically indelible. It would be a pity to end up with a big mistake in the middle of the arm. The best way not to make a mistake in a tattoo is to seek the advice of one or more native speakers or an expert in the target language. It is also possible to use a sentence already in the selected language. This is the case with lyrics or some literary and poetic quotes. This avoids translation errors. Of course, it is still skull tanktop legging to be able to copy them without making mistakes.
It's not just the Latin alphabet in the world. We all remember the fashion for tattoos of Chinese or Maori signs. If it's conceivable to have a quote tattooed in another writing system, the risk of making a mistake is high, unless you're tattooed by a native speaker of the language.
Strange quotes can have different meanings
Arabic, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Thai… These writing systems are certainly aesthetically pleasing but above all they have meaning. Knowing how to reproduce signs or hieroglyphs is not enough, you must understand what is being said and also take into account the complexity of the language used. First, some systems are read from left to right, right to left, or top to bottom. Therefore, the position of words will vary from system to system. Avoid “copying and pasting” a quote into another system at the risk of a sentence confusing for native speakers. In addition, several signs can be linked together to form another word. This is the case of hieroglyphs that can have different meanings if they are linked with other hieroglyphs.