Hi...

[insanejester]

Hey... i'm new..... and have been thinking about learning chinese for quite some time.. i find the culture in itself is very facinating and am looking to broaden my perspective of it.....

but right now.... i have a very silly request for anyone willing to help....

I'm turning 18 tommoro and plan on getting a tatoo

(yes.. i know... childish and impulsive, but i want it.)

I want the chinese symbol for "Idiot" a foolish, unenlightened, or unwise person...

I have my reasons... one being a reminder... that... no matter how much we think we know... we are always idiots by some standard... capable of learning much more...

so far this is all i could find

bai chyr

I was wondering if 1... it was what it says...

2... is there a *cooler* looking style to write it in? with less curves and more strieght edges?

3.... what are your thoughts about it? and do you think there is a better word i could use?

Thanx for the help...

peace, love, and unity...[/img]

[in_lab]

Are you sure this isn't a tattoo for a not-so-good friend who's looking for a tattoo that says kung fu?

[marcopolo79]

For the love of god, please see the following website: www.hanzismatter.com

[roddy]

Any tattoo you get on your 18th birthday when you admit its childish and impulsive will remind you of your stupidity, so I wouldn't worry too much how it actually looks.

[skylee]

Try

呆子

which have less curves and more straight edges.

[frozenmyth]

What?

Hahahaha.

Oh, u a guy or female.

The important thing is that you are funny hahaha.

May I ask why are you interested in putting that on your body?

I agree with you that many of us are idiots in life without realizing that.

I am an idiot too, but I will try to make myself a better person though.

That's unusual you want that.

One time an Indian guy asked me and some others a sentence in Chinese.

He said a woman told him that.

If we heard him correctly it translated into " I am a potato."

Bad Chinese woman, if she indeed told him that.

Interesting.

[insanejester]

in_lab-Nope.... But I had heard of this before.... i jus think it would be cruel to have that if ya didn't want it... I can be an ass.... but not that bad of one...

marcopolo79-ok i looked... I've heard all bout the tats meanin other stuff... but i want mine to mean idiot...

roddy-Good point... But I if i'm gonna wear it.. i still don't want it lookin shitty...

the meaning is really mine... I don't care if other people know what it means or not... but i do want it to look good...

[insanejester]

Skylee-... i didn't really mean.... the charectors themselves... i meant the way it was written.... the font i guess is what i'm saying...

but... what does 呆子 mean?

Frozenmyth... i'mma dude... and thanx... funny story too...

[seagate]

I would suggest you replace it with 无知 which means ignorant. That fits what you meant more, and you can remove it one day when you think you are knowledgable enough. At that time, you can tatoo a 智者。

[seagate]

I think 八戒 is more straightforward

Try

呆子

which have less curves and more straight edges.

[insanejester]

Ignorent... yeah that sounds good.... but i'm jus not sure....

and if 无知 means ignorent then what does

mean?

also... when drawing the lines.... as in a tattoo or somthing.... does it matter which directions the strokes flow?

could someone do me a huge favor and direct me to a site with some different chinese fonts?

also... what do 八戒 & 呆子 mean?

[xuechengfeng]

無知 I would guess that picture above would mean something along the lines of "without knowledge."

Why wouldn't you get something less blunt, something more graceful, like "The thirst for knowledge is never quenched."

Something that doesn't denigrate yourself, which to me, seems silly.

[insanejester]

xuechengfeng-1... i don't know enough chinese to translate it... 2... i trust anyone enough that i know that knows chinese to translate it for me..

I love! what your saying.... but I have no idea how it is written in chinese...

do you know of any places i can go online and know for sure how to translate it?

[frozenmyth]

Yeah.

Ignorant sounds fine.

How about no thinking--OO nian? Sorry I can't type in Chinese.

Hum, OO Nian may make you sound like a Buddhist monk.

Cool dude.

[xuechengfeng]

I would like to help translate it, but my Chinese is rather limited. I'm sure someone will be able to do it in here, though. Most people in here translate quite well.

Maybe I'll make a separate post requesting that translation, and one other, since I'm curious about it.

[insanejester]

frozenmyth--oo nian - what's that mean?

xuechengfeng--thanx man that would be awesome... do you think you would get an accurate translation though?...

[frozenmyth]

Hum?

Oh. OO Nian is OO Nian.

Sorry. I can't type in Chinese.

Somebody please help here.

I probably didn't even spell that right, but then again in Chinese when many use English spelling is just to help non-native speakers learn the language to speak. The sound I mean.

OO Nian = No mind ,not = stupidly mindless.

Yonglan & Ian Lee.

R u guys here?

Can you help if you see this please.

[confucius]

I am the resident genius (天才) for all Chinese character consultations on this forum. My humble suggestion for your idiotic tattoo is as follows:

蠢材

Think of it as a slightly more sophisticated way to say "idiot" in Chinese.

The characters are certainly more befitting for a tattoo as well.

You're welcome!

[ala]

無知 and 无知 are the same. 無 is the traditional form (also Japanese), and 无 is Mainland simplified.

It means exactly "ignorance" with slightly harsher connotations in the Chinese. Would you tattoo in English "ignorance" on yourself?

呆子 is a better choice and more playful. I used to call my brother 呆子.

[seagate]

insanejester,

無知=无知，無=无，无 is just the simplified form of the traditional character 無.

I was kidding with 八戒。Don't take it seriously. 八戒 is a character of the traditional Chinese novel 西游记 (Record of a journey to the west), and he is basically an idiot and very lazy so his brother 孙悟空(the monkey) calls him 呆子(dumb,stupid person).

Now let's come back to your tatoo. Seriously, I hate tatoo. Once you tatoo your body, that part of your skin will never recover even if you remove the tatoo later, unless you will never regret for it - sounds impossible because people's mind is always changing when s/he becomes older and older. Keep in mind that your skin is not a piece of paper that you can write whatever you want today and erase it with an eraser tomorrow. So think it carefully before you do that.

In the other case if I am not able to persuade you to change your mind, I would suggest a replacement to 'idiot'. I come up with a good Chinese idiom 学无止境 which exactly means what you meant to express, however it has a positive and active meaning compared to 'idiot'. 学 means 'learning', 无 means 'no', 止境 means 'end' or 'boundary'. So 学无止境 means 'learning is endless'. How do you like it?