Tattoo Translation

[josieb]

Picture attached.

[Lu]

It looks rather like Japanese to me, actually.

[Yezze]

Well, i am learning to read and write Chinese, so this may not be 100% true. But, i haven't seen many, if any, characters that look like those. As in, the characters in the picture seems to be more "free" or "non-linear" than most Chinese characters. I can't think of a good way to it describe in words.

[jbradfor]

I'm pretty sure it's hiragana, in particular a "ma" on the left and an "a" on the right. No idea what it means.

[Glenn]

It's Japanese. It says maa, which is like "well..." It's used a lot when you don't want to state anything definitely (or at all sometimes). For instance maa, sore wa kare no iken da shi na ("well, that's his opinion").

It can also be used with na and is a way to answer "are you a good guitar player?" Maa na would mean "well... I guess (but I'm not going to come right out and say "yes")."

Or it can be repeated to kind of calm things down, e.g., maa maa, sou aseranakutemo, "alright, alright. Calm down (you don't have to rush so much/don't freak out/etc.)."

[SiMaKe]

... "free" or "non-linear" than most Chinese characters. I can't think of a good way to it describe in words.

Maybe "cursive" is the description you are looking for.

[Glenn]

Yeah, they originally come from 末 and 安, respectively, via 草書. I'd say "cursive" is a fairly apt description.

[Yezze]

Maybe "cursive" is the description you are looking for.

Yea, that would be a good way to explain it.

[Hofmann]

It could be あま.

[Glenn]

I kind of doubt it's that (or at least I doubt anyone would read it as that), but that would certainly be closer to "bossy" than maa.