translation for my tattoo

[wales23]

im getting a tattoo done next month and i was wondering if the translation i have for it is right

是像水 (be like water) if this is right could you let me know and if its wrong could i please have the right translation off as many people as possible so that the majority shows that its the right way,as its going to be on me for life..thanks very much..Also if u have any way of making the symbols bigger for me that would help as i need to draw them myself to give to the tattooist..thanks again

[muyongshi]

I would drop the 是... it's not very necessary

[imron]

as i need to draw them myself

Please don't do this. If you absolutely must have a Chinese phrase permanently tattooed on your body, at least do yourself the favour of going to a tattoist experienced with Chinese characters, rather than relying on something you've drawn yourself. That way, you spare yourself the pain of having the internet laugh at you.

[Lu]

I'd make that 如水 (like water), more elegant wording.

[muyongshi]

maybe more elegant but 像 is more complex of a character....

I think 如水 works better because it is used in some works I've seen as well as becase they are both simple characters it would look really nice if done right (ie not by yourself!)

[gougou]

any way of making the symbols bigger

i need to draw them myself to give to the tattooist..

Try MS Word. And a printer.

[wales23]

thanks for the advice on not drawing it myself,,is there anyone who is good enough to draw it for me,,one of u guys maybe???,,i could give you my address n you could send it through the post for me,,i would really apreciate it...anyone wanna help me out????

如水 (like water) is what i need drawn

[wales23]

i also checked out that website with all the peoples mistakes of having there tattoos written in chinese characters..I really dont want this happening to me,i see that people who respect this chinese calligraphy have a deep respect for the way its written and presented..The main reason i want this tattoo is beacuse i study martial arts and i am well into bruce lee,a idol of mine who inspires me every day of my life,so rather than get his name tattooed i wanted a famous quote by him instead,and one of his quotes is ''to be like water''.. i would get it wrote in english but for some reason i feel it has a deeper meaning for me if it was written in chines characters..I really dont want it up,out of respect for the language..someone said ''like water'' would look better and personally i like the sound of it too,so thanks.....

[shibole]

First I should say, yea, I agree with most people that you shouldn't get something like this permanently inscribed on your body. If you're like me you change your likes and dislikes every year or two and it may not be long before you don't feel like being "like water" anymore. When that day comes, oops. Too bad.

Actually it's kind of ironc that you want to be "like water" yet unlike water you want to be permanently affixed with something.

If you can't find a Chinese calligrapher and you don't like the default Chinese fonts in Windows or whatever you have, you might want to use this to generate your image:

http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/calligraphy.html

This will generate a PNG file that you can print from the browser like any other image.

If you really want to be original maybe you should go for seal script. That way, not only will Chinese-illiterate people be unable to read it, but the vast majority of Chinese-literate people probably won't be able to read it. (Though 如水 is pretty simple so it may be more than I think.)

[imron]

If you're looking for the bruce lee quote, then 像水一样, is better than 如水.

[wales23]

ye ironic i know,but thats me im a walking contradiction anyway,plus im at a stage in my life where ive gone through sum shit and im finally trying to find out who i am and finally realising WHO I AM,and the things im getting into are never goin to change,but only time will tell,lol.....imron what does that stand for??the characters u posted?

[imron]

imron what does that stand for??the characters u posted?

It means "like water", or "the same as water".

[heifeng]

I have an idea, why don't you get a nice Asian-style fish tatoo. Fish live in water, so you are like water, no? (not to mention one with the earth, etc... doesn't all that martial arts stuff talk about this stuff....) Plus, this could actually turn out to be a cool tattoo and you could then go and tell your whole inspiration for the tattoo still...search google for fish tatoos, pretty fun

[muyongshi]

Is this another one of your random rants heifeng??? I thoroughly enjoy them....

[heifeng]

haha, thanks. I usually never try to dissuade people from getting tatt'd up, I just like to give my two cents and there can be no argument about the correctness of a fish tattoo unless it has legs!

[wales23]

doesn't all that martial arts stuff talk about this stuff.

obviously by using the word STUFF twice it has no meaning to you..its not stuff to me..thanks for giving your idea to me,,but it means nothing to me..SORRY

[heifeng]

stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff stuffstuff stuff stuffstuff stuff stuffstuff stuff stuffstuff stuff stuffstuff stuff stuffstuff stuff stuffstuff stuff stuffstuff stuff stuffstuff stuff stuffstuff stuff stuffstuff stuff

let me know if you also need suggestions on a place to stuff the stuff.