Tattoos Make You Cool!
One of my biggest pet peeves are bad tattoos. And the WORST tattoos are the ones that people think look cool, but they have no idea of the significance behind them. For example, all of the old sailor tattoos that are SO ridiculously popular: Nautical stars, anchors, swallows, etc. Do you think these 18 years olds with swallows tattooed on their chests have any idea of the importance of a swallow? The reason swallows were so important to sailors is because if you were lost at sea, spotting a swallow meant they were near land. Sailors also got a swallow tattoed on their chest after sailing a certain amount of nautical miles (5000 miles per swallow, I believe). So everytime I see people with tattoos that they obviously have no idea behind the meaning, I want to bitch slap them. Remember when it was the coolest thing ever to get a chinese character tattooed on your body? Even though you are whiter then white, have never been out of the USA and have zero interest in Asian culture? Well, I think this story is pretty funny…
“Pitt junior Brandon Smith wanted a tattoo that proclaimed his manliness, so he decided to get the Chinese characters for ‘strength’ and ‘honor’ on his chest. After 20 minutes under the needle of local tattoo artist Andy Sakai, he emerged with the symbol for ‘small penis’ embedded in his flesh.
“I had it for months before I knew what it really meant,” Smith said.
“Then I went jogging through the Carnegie Mellon campus and a group of Asian kids started laughing and calling me ‘Shorty’. That’s when I knew something was up.”
Sakai, an award-winning tattoo artist, was tired of seeing sacred Japanese words, symbols of his heritage, inked on random white people. So he used their blissful ignorance to make an everlasting statement. Any time a customer came to Sakai’s home studio wanting Japanese tattooed on them, he modified it into a profane word or phrase.
“All these preppy sorority girls and suburban rich boys think they’re so cool because they have a tattoo with Japanese characters. But it doesn’t mean shit to them!” Sakai said. “The dumbasses don’t even realize that I’ve written ‘slut’ or ‘pervert’ on their skin!”
In the last month, seven people unknowingly received explicit tattoos from the disgruntled artist. Kerri Baker, a Carlow College freshman, paid $50 to have the symbols for ‘beautiful goddess’ etched above her belly button, but when she went into Szechuan Express Asian Noodle Shop sporting a bare midriff, the giggling employees explained to her that the tattoo really said, ‘Insert General Tso’s Chicken Here!’
“I don’t even like General Tso’s!” Baker sobbed. “I’m a vegetarian!”
Sakai doesn’t feel guilty about using hapless college students as canvases for his graffiti.
“I think I’m helping my fellow man by labeling all the stupid people in the world,” he explained. “It’s not a crime, it’s a public service.”
That is sooo funny. I’ve always wondered if they play practical jokes like that. You just knew they must sometimes!
You know what? I wholeheartedly agree with Sakai.
Tattoos make you cool….not.
Unless you get that barbed wire tattoo around your biceps. Then you’re cool. But you’d be much cooler if you used real barbed wire.
I understand his point of view but totally disagree with doing this to people who come to you for a service and put their trust in you, if they are paying him then this is totally wrong. If he doesn’t like putting the tattoos on someone then he could just refuse the client, this is a cowardly way to make $$. He has no right permanently inking anyone with something they did not ask for regardless how he feels. What an ass.
YOu can check http://www.snopes.com for this…it’s really an urban legend. They state “the source of this article, Souf Oaklin fo’ Life!!!, “is a satirical newspaper published by Wooo Media.”
Although I’m sure somewhere out there someone has a tattoo that reads differently than what they thought.
I was wondering about that. It sounded a tad bit fishy to me when I read this part:
“…the tattoo really said, ‘Insert General Tso’s Chicken Here!’
“I don’t even like General Tso’s!” Baker sobbed. “I’m a vegetarian!”…”
Oh well, it’s still a funny article
Hey, i have a swallow tattoo on my upper chest – although i didn’t find out about the sailor significance til after, i got it because there is a swallow on the cover of a 311 album (i got the same design) – been my favorite band for the past 10years and the meaning is my own, so you can’t really say that swallows are strictly a sailor thing – i do however hate the chinese symbol tattoos, but that is an asshole thing to do, total ‘elitist’ selfish bullshit. some people don’t want words and a small character meaning a few words is something that works for some people… plus it’s kinda lame to be like ‘tattoos mean this and only this, i’m an elitist snob, listen to me!’ – things mean different things to different people, deal with it…
tasty
it’s rude to say you want to slap people for having a swallow tat. I’m a girl and i got one when I joined the navy, are you going to slap me?
Well, considering you are a sailor, I would assume that a swallow tattoo means something to you. But I could be wrong and if you’d like me to slap you, I suppose we could arrange something
…
On the other hand, I would definately like to bitch-slap the guy that got a swallow tattoo because it was on his favorite bands CD cover. That’s almost as bad as the Quiksilver tattoo I saw the other day…
You cannot look at someone and assume that they have no idea of the significance of swallows tattoos. I have two on my back and did my research……however, ultimately it is the personal meaning which is the most representative for me.
Did I ever say that everyone that has a swallow tattoo does not know what the swallow tattoos are all about? Nope.
The bottom line is that swallow tattoos are trendy and I would love to see someone try to argue that they arn’t. If you want trendy shit tattooed all over yourself, go for it.
Yay for trendy tattoos! Go from geek to cool in 1.5 sleeves!
If swallows ALWAYS fly towards land, how do they get out to sea?
Swallows fly out from land to search for food for the day, sometimes twice a day, and would tell sailors that they were near land, as swallows do not fly far out to sea. Sailors would need to be careful if following a swallow, as it could be flying out to sea for food.
I used to think that too, but I remember seeing TBOZ from TLC with her boyfriend’s team logo and number on her arm, then he got traded to another team, and I thought WOW she will have to have that forever she is dumb, then she died a year later. So it really doesn’t matter what you have in this material world, you ain’t takin it with you.
Sailors themseleves were NOT putting much thought into their tattos anyway, you just picked a piece of art off the wall it didn’t have any symbolisim to have a dragon or betty boop on your arm, it was just the right of passge of getting the tattoo. Tattoos with special meanings ARE TRENDY. “Oh this means when I was a lil girl my nanna used to take me intot the lake and we’d splash around and water means life and BLAH BLAH BLAH” get over it.
Left-Eye died. T-Boz is still alive. nice try.
but I totally agree with the “tattoos with meanings are trendy” part. How many times have I read stories on BME about the “meaning” behind some hipster’s nautical star? Or how “this tiger in the shape of a butterfly tattoo really reflects my personality…” Lame-o. I defend tattoos for asthetic purposes. Spare me the “dead great-aunt” story.
just cuz 90% of the dumbshit highscool kids out there with tats dont have a goddamn clue about the symbolism of the ink under their skin doesnt mean that the rest of us are fuckin bandwagon hoppers. ps i agree that chinese/japanese tats are fuckin dumb. if you cant read it why is it on your arm !!!
you americans are such a bunch of hipacritical wanks. in the uk swallow tattoos are ofter on hands and necks of people who have done a spell in prison, doing bird, as its called. Why you cant just let someone get something inked on them selves and leave it at that, different strokes and all that. mibby it is some deep and meaningfull reason behind someones tattoo or mibby they think it looks good. you think pink hair makes you look cool, mibby other people think you look like a dick, mibby some think its cool. WHO REALLY CARES, as long as you like it and your happy with it. so to sum it up incase you missed it(i know you americans have a pretty small attention span) stop bitchin about people and accept that some people like different things, if someone wants a swallow, the quiksilver logo, or even super mario who are you to tell them that its stupid, or that they need meaning or that they’ve missed the point. Fonz
Oh yeah, another pet peeve of mine is people that try to use words that they can’t even spell…;)
Hey, I resemble the remark about sailor tattoos. I was in the US Navy in ’66 and most of my shipmates got their 1st tattoos when they were drunk, and unable to make an educated decision.
Mine was a copy of my dad’s, who was an ex navy man.
i agree with fonz here. lots of people get tattoos because they like the style, or the look. summer you need to get over your “hardcore self”
Hmmm. I re-read this post that I posted a year ago and, nope, no where have I ever claimed to be “hardcore”. I stick by the fact that when I see 18 year old kids with trendy tattoos I think they are tools. Just my opinion
…
You need to calm down and stop acting like a tattoo Guru, cause my guess is your not. For instance, the swallow isn’t just limited to sailers it also means that you will always come home and can be seen as a good luck Tattoo, and the nautical star is goodluck to. That chinease stuff his f**king funny
it wrong to just asume people dont know the meanings of their tattoos.
just because a persons tattoo is ‘trendy’ doesnt mean that they got it to look cool
A lot of these “trendy” tattoos that draw on nautical tradition are still very popular with modern sailors. If that “18 year old kid” with nautical stars or swallows happens to be a real sailor, is he just being trendy, or are you being, perhaps, too judgemental.
swallows have different meanings because they find and only have one mate in their lives they are a symbol of love. sailors got them after traveling 5000 nautical miles also they don’t always fly towards land but when they migrate they fly pretty far from land and rest in ships letting the sailors know that land was near by
Let’s face it, everything is trendy at some time or another. The first time that sailors got swallows tattooed on them it was a trend, and it’s a trend now too. Sure, the swallows meant something to sailors, but could they not have been more original and found something else to symbolise the same thing rather than all having the same tattoo? Shouldn’t you judge them too if you are going to judge people today? Let’s face it, trends dictate our society and always have. Everyone is a
“poser”.
Personally, I have no problem with people getting trendy tattoos. I respect people whose tattoos symbolize something of importance to them, but I also believe that tattoos basically represent creativity and the freedom to decorate our bodies with art. If someone chooses to tattoo themselves, who are we to judge them? The only advice I have is to think long and hard before you do something so permanent to your body.
And by the way, that guy who put profane tattoos on people’s bodies should be sent to prison. People trusted them with doing something permanent to their bodies, just like a doctor or surgeon. He is sick and had no right to make a statement on other people’s bodies.
Just so you know there are lots of tallship sailors that have done 5000 miles but the time they were 18. For the traditional sailors the old meanings still apply. They also are to show your sailing skills because each on is for 5000 mile. If you were going to post something why don’t you write about something you know about.
And speaking of trendy and looking like evey one else you have the same look as every little 20 somehing girls you see shopping at the mall. So don’t rag on tattoo people just because someone else may have a swallow or a star or any other tatto you think is bullshit.
I hope I have some miss spelled words in here. You know if someone not a great speller we should dis them for that to.
To bad we all can’t be as perfect as you
I think the comments I get here about people being SO PISSED OFF that I think nautical stars and swallow tattoos are trendy. If you have one and are confident about loving it, then you wouldn’t give a shit about what some random chick wrote on her blog. If you do care, then you are exactly the person I’m talking about.
I have plenty of friends with good and bad tattoos. My boyfriend has some pretty bad tattoos, but he just laughs about being a silly 18 year old kid that wanted some cool tattoos. Once you all grow up, you can do the same
.
A girl I was dating last year had a tattoo of a small swallow on her neck that she got when she was 18. She’s 29 now. She told me that when she got it, she didn’t know that it was even a real bird, or that it’s real name was a swallow, or anything at all about any of the historical or mythological symbolism of the swallow tattoo. She got it because swallow was what she liked to do.
haha nautical stars are fucking trendy and if you got one for a reason and know the significance of it or any tattoo for that matter..good for you. But lets face it..most of the people I see nowadays get nautical stars to be “cool” and “edgy” fucking morons.
I absolutely love that you posted this. My fiance is a sailor in the navy and I got an anchor tattoo with swallows to suprise him and I was so pissed when one of his freaking emo friends kept going on about how “scene” my tattoo was and how in style it was. He a sailor himself didn’t even know the meaning. Dipshit.
Another common sailor tattoo is that of the giant squid. Seeing a giant squid near the side of the ship would assure the sailor that he was in the sea.
As such, sailors often had giant squids tattooed on their chest and took their shirts off when they went to sea. Some sources say that this also helped to capture real giant squid but the basis behind this claim is sketchy.
I agree that tattoos are and expression of ones self. 90% of the people I know have their own meaning for the ink they get on their bodies. So what if someone else, or 98 people, have the same tattoo. They are the ones who have to live with it. If they are happy with it then I don’t see why someone should make a big deal. How many people have a cross on their arm? People get cross on their body to show their faith in God, its a popular tattoo and yet you say nothing about that. Bottom line is. its someone else’s body, not yours! If they weren’t smart enough to think long and hard about what they want and what it means to them then thats their fault and they are the ones to have to live with it, not you. So shove off!
I think it’s fairly easy to tell the difference between a sailor or an inmate with a swallow, and an irritating 19 year old hipster with a trendy eating disorder to match. And yeah, I do think that that the latter is definetly cheapening the ink.
MIBBY!! ahaha
haha well, it happens.
I want to incorporate swallows to a tattoo, for so many reasons. my dad was a sailor and then became a captain. the last thing he said to me is that he is forever in love with the sea. I was born and raised in an island actually called cozumel “the island of the swallows” and the sea is the only place were I feel secure. I want my soul to be recovered by swallows like they used to believe. so yeah, it makes me mad every time I see a 18 year old with a swallow that has no idea what swallows mean in old school tattoos!
to be over judgemental is to be ignorant. not every white person with asian characters has their tattoo for trendy reasons. Just because someone has a tattoo of a swallow doesn’t mean they don’t know, love and respect the symbolism behind it.
all i can say is that i can’t wait to get my swallow tattoos on my chest because in my family crest there are two black swallows diving toward one another. i’ve done my research, and ive thought long and hard about it. im proud of my family heritage, but i guess you wouldnt be thinking about that when you judge me from a distance…
i guess im just a dumbass 18 year old kid
Chinese or japanese caligraphy has always been fascinating for a lot of people. It symbolise something very spiritual and wise. You cannot juge that and you cannot think that this guy has any right to insult the language and the ideology of his ancestors in such a pathetic and bitter way…
holy eff. i love a good argument.
i don’t agree with anyone. but this was a blast to read.
I have a nautical star on each of my shoulder blades. Alot of people say that i took those tattoos because they are cool or trendy. But to me those tattoos have meaning. First of all i come from a long list of sailors. Second of all the nautical star was used by sailors as a symbol to represent the way home and I interepreted this is my own way as trying to find your own way through life.
Just because alot of people have a certain type of tattoo doesnt necessairly mean that it doesnt have meaning for them.
Also the nautical star first became popular in the hardcore punk scene of western california. According to the logic mentioned above it is just as wrong for them to have swallows or nautical stars as anybody else, but no one considers it to be trendy when you see a hardcore punker with a nautical star. Even though the have as much relationship to the sailing culture as anyone else.
My point is that judging someome by the type of tattoos they have is just as stereotypical as judging someone by the color of their skin.
Responding to Erik …
You're entitled to your opinion, but you are way off base when you say, (At 7/10/2007 3:57 PM), > "My point is that judging someome by the type of tattoos they have is just as stereotypical as judging someone by the color of their skin."
Each of us is born as they are, with skin of a color, with hair of a color, with eyes of a color, etc. with no choice in the matter. What you adorn your skin with is your choice and your choice alone, and I can, and will, most assuredly, judge the choices you make.
Judging someone based on a natural physical characteristic is barbaric and medieval behaviour, but judging someone on what they do, (like getting a particular tattoo), or on what they say, (without thinking), is exactly what judging is all about in the first place.
If you don’t like being judged (harshly or not) for your questionable choices in life, then think your choices out better, or stay out of the way of the ones whose judgement you don’t like.
If you want to paint your body, go right ahead. It’s your body. But are you doing it to please others, or yourself?
If what they’re saying about you, comes as result of something you have done or said, and you don’t want to hear it, then it’s clear you should consider becoming a hermit.
If your choice of tattoo is meaningful to you, then go for it. It doesn’t matter what it means to anyone else. Period. But if you’re getting it to piss somebody off, that, in my opinion, is the most wrong reason there is.
A Star, A Swallow, A Tiger, Or Foreign Language Letters, it doesn’t matter. You owe no one any explanations whatsoever. You only have to answer to yourself.
But every person you meet will judge you for what they see you do, and for what they hear you say. Some will be more vocal about that others, but make no mistake about it, we all judge, one way or the other, just as you have, by being critical of those who don’t like or understand your choice of tattoo.
Anonymous – I could not have said that better myself! I wholeheartly agree that if you get a tattoo, the only persons opinion that you should care about, is your own. It’s your body, do whatever you want with it. My opinion shouldn’t matter, but obviously it does because look at all the people attempting to defend their nautical stars and swallow tattoo. Those are exactly the people I’m talking about.
First off, you look like you’d have a lower back tattoo, so I wouldn’t bitch about meaningless tattoos if I were you…I’m right, huh?
“So everytime I see people with tattoos that they obviously have no idea behind the meaning, I want to bitch slap them.”
I’m just curious as to how you’d know if someone has knowledge of traditional meanings of tattoos, or if they have a personal meaning for them…it’s not really any of your business.
You really annoyed me, but, I have to agree that frat boy tattoos (Chinese symbols, barbed wire, etc) are retarded, and as far as I’ve been able to tell, are only there to “look badass”.
Callie – No, I don’t have a “tramp stamp” (lower back tattoo). I do think it’s funny that you think it’s none of my business to have an opinion about swallow/nautical star/tattoos in general, yet in the same breathe you label/judge people that have “frat boy” tattoos (barbed wire, chinese symbols, tribal shit).
Like I’ve said a million times before, why does anyone care that I think swallows and nautical stars are lame tattoos? The only people that care are the ones that are insecure about having them…
Let me guess, Callie, you have a swallow tattoo (or are researching online to get one when you turn 18…)…
Ok,Ok Enough already as you ‘Yanks’ sometimes like to say. As (Sir) Paul McCartney once wrote…Let it be! Each to their own, we have one life so make the most of it. Kellis (An educated Englishman). ps. Paul McCartney used to be in a small pop/rock band in the sixtys. pps. hello VS, nice piccy!
People get tattoos for many different reasons and to say that you get angry and want to 'bitch slap' them when you see somebody with a tattoo that they obvioulsy do not know the meaning of is absurd…Unless you talk to someone & find out the reasons behind the tattoo they have chosen for themselves you have no right to judge whether they got that tattoo to 'be cool'. Tattoos are very personal and to say that a swallow is just trendy and no one these days could have one for a meaniful & sincere reason is just pathetic.
As for giving people the wrong tattoo on purpose is messed up and wrong.
Anonymous 10/21/2007 5:29 PM – I never said that I get angry when I see a tool with trendy tattoos. I couldn’t care less about how someone looks. What I will do is laugh and form an opinion on what I see. It’s human nature. Prove me wrong and I’m stoked, but I have not met an 18 – 22 year old that could give me a good enough excuse as the why they really have a swallow or nautical star tattoo. Honestly, I just think it’s funny, but I’m sure they will look back in 5 years and laugh at themselves too. Trust me, I thought I was pretty bad ass at 18 too, I was just lucky that me being 18 was never tattooed on my body.
And, for giving people the wrong tattoo…I still don’t know how I feel about that. I’m still leaning towards: serves your right for being a douche bag and not researching whatever it is that you are getting tattooed…
yes you did say it made you angry…
you quite specifically said you wanted to ‘bitch slap’ any 18 year old that had a swallow tattoo.
i dont know about you, but id hav to be pretty angry about some one to slap them…
or do you just have issues?
you also claimed in your last comment to find the whole thing ‘funny’, in which case, why do you let it bother you enough to write a blog about it…?
stop being so high and mighty!
being a dull and over 20 doesnt give you the right to pass judgement on people that you dont know. so get off your high horse and get over yourself!
Oh boy…another person so opinionated that that feel the need to leave an an anonymous comment…
Dear “anonymous 1/29/2008 9:32 AM”,
I apologize that you take everything literally. As pointed out before, I mean “bitch slap” as a figure of speech. I wouldn’t figuratively stand on the street and physically slap everyone that walked by with a lame tattoo (specifically nautical stars and swallows).
Other peoples life choices (and unfortunate tattoos) don’t bother me in the least. I simply make observations about things and take a few minutes to jot it down on my blog. I’m sorry that other peoples opinions about tattoos hit so close to home for you. But, welcome to the real world. Hopefully you won’t go running out to get a boob job after a 15 year old boy tells you that your boobs are small. But you probably will…
As for me being “dull”…Then why are you on my website reading what i wrote years ago? Cheer up emo kid. Go get a morbid tattoo and cry to your friends about how your parents bought you a Honda instead of a BMW, like you expected them too…Life is rough.
I just stumbled upon this, and i know its old but i was blown away at what people had to say.
I myself have several tattoos, and love when people ask about them. I can say they are all one of a kind as well. I am not uneducated in the subject either…im not an expert, but i am certainly not dumb.
I think tattoos are more of a culture. Some people get it. Some people will never understand tattoos. Its not for everyone.
Get things because they are beautiful to you. They dont always have to have some really “deep” or “significant” meaning to you. Get it because you love it. I plan on getting a 3/4 sleeve in a few weeks. I have spent a lot of time researching and planning. I am getting two swallows on my arm (along with other tradional sailor tattoos). I am getting them because i love that style, i appreciate the simplicity of the art. It blows my mind away when i see traditional sailor tatts. I guess you could say mine is a tribute to the style. It really has little other meaning to me beside an appreciation for the history and beauty.
As several other people have said…who cares, they are tattoos. They are meant to be judged as all art is (in my opinion).
from a tattooed persons perspective: I can become one of you (non-tattooed), but you could never be one of us.
So what if they don’t know the meaning?!!
I’d quite happily have a tattoo with no meaning.
People who get tattooed don’t HAVE to know the meaning about something. It’s a bird for gods sake.
The obviously like the way it looks.
You’ve pissed me off, your just another one of those idiots who thinks everyone has to know the meaning behind everything they get tattooed!!
I personaly get tattooed for me to feel complete. I feel more like me each time i get inked.
If i wanted to go out tomorrow and get an anchor tattooed on me, i couldnt give a shit what it meant!
I could give it my own meaning if i wished to – but i’d rather be covered in tattoos that made me look pretty and interesting, nice to look at.
Everyones different, we dont all need the a meaning or even the same meaning behind a tattoo.
Get over yourself you stuck up bitch.
Oh and before you think i posted annonymously so you wouldnt hassle me, i couldnt be bothered making a blogger.
bitch back on myspace if you so wish.
You seem way too opinionated, so you probably will.
http://www.myspace.com/cucumbersrock.
wow… this is really funny…
i halfass agree with everyone on here…
VS is right, if you have a “trendy tattoo” or want one, you shouldnt give a shit what she or anyone else thinks of it…
I also think that every tattoo doesnt have to have a “deep” meaning behind it. At the end of the day, ITS ART! Lets face it, you wouldnt go out and buy a paiting or sculpture because its got some deep meaning, it decoration, just something that you enjoy looking at. So if your tattoo is a memorial tattoo, or something really meaningful to you…great. If not, so what. . .
If you’re really hard up for not being trendy…dont get a tatoo. If you like something enough to get a tattoo, that’s enough reason. If someone else thinks its lame, just remind them that it’s not inked on them and f*** off.
look at all these dumb white people complain about how he’s sick. did you ever think how sick it was for you to use other people’s histories, cultures and lives as trivial decorations?
he’s a hero to all of us non-white people of the US who constantly have our cultures cannibalized and fetishized by disgusting white scum.
I haven’t read the whole discussion/war. I was thinking of getting some words translated into some Chinese Symbols but after hearing this kind of shit…lets just say forget it. Keep your languages. I hear what you are saying to a degree, but if someone ever tattooed me with a fake symbol meaning something else, I would go back and cut his tattoo hand off with a machete. Not joking.
that guy is an asshole.
he’s basically ruining people’s lives by permanently making their skin say something vulgar and inappropriate. it’s none of his f****** business who wants what tattoo. just take the money and stop acting like such a dick.
Everytime I see people, who complain about other peoples tattoos, I want to bitch slap them. And I mean “bitch slap” as a figure of speech. I wouldn’t figuratively stand on the street and physically slap the person. But that’s just me.
Everytime I see people, who complain about other peoples tattoos, I want to bitch slap them. And I mean “bitch slap” as a figure of speech. I wouldn’t figuratively stand on the street and physically slap the person.
But that’s just me.