New Members jjpeterson Posted February 2, 2012 at 05:34 AM New Members Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 at 05:34 AM Hey! What does this say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted February 2, 2012 at 06:31 AM Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 at 06:31 AM This is really the sort of question you should be asking *before* getting something permanently inked on your skin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliott50 Posted February 2, 2012 at 07:24 AM Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 at 07:24 AM 神信念在我是雍容. I think it is intended to mean something like "belief in God is natural to me" or perhaps "I believe in the grace of God". However I'm not sure that it is a grammatically correct chinese sentence I'm afraid (Google translation: "belief in the grace of God I"), although someone with more knowledge of the language than I have may be able to tell you more. Individual word pronunciations and definitions from www.mdbg.net are below: 神 - shén - God / unusual / mysterious / soul / spirit / divine essence / lively / spiritual being 信念 - xìnniàn - faith / belief / conviction 在 - zài - (located) at / (to be) in / to exist / in the middle of doing sth / (indicating an action in progress) 我 - wǒ - I / me / my 是 - shì - is / are / am / yes / to be 雍容 - yōngróng - natural / graceful / and poised Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members jjpeterson Posted February 2, 2012 at 07:57 AM Author New Members Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 at 07:57 AM I guess the goal was: "God's faith in me is Grace" Grace being her daughters name. It's clever in English. Not sure why she went with Chinese. But as she won't bump into too many native speakers, the Actual translation doesnt matter as much as her Perceived translation. And it seems she kinda got close. Interesting. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted February 2, 2012 at 10:53 AM Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 at 10:53 AM Well said imron. Yet again the question is being asked after its been done. Hope it is what the OP wanted:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Patterson 包德 Posted February 2, 2012 at 12:06 PM Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 at 12:06 PM Oh... I love this topic. I've seen so many westerners with tattoos and they barely even know what they mean, or once a guy had "onion" (圆葱) tattooed on his arm and swore that it meant something spiritual. I wish I had taken a picture. I can't even begin to imagine how he was misled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradfor Posted February 2, 2012 at 02:58 PM Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 at 02:58 PM In this case the OP was asking about someone else's tattoo..... do you really need the same knee-jerk reaction every time someone posts a tattoo translation request? jjpeterson, don't tell her what it actually means. The last two characters (雍容) mean grace as in someone's posture or bearing, it does not have the religious meaning of grace I believe she wanted. It'll be our secret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinewind Posted February 3, 2012 at 09:04 AM Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 at 09:04 AM How come someone would tatto himself with a "圆葱" is beyond me....... "神信念在我是雍容" appears fine though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted February 3, 2012 at 10:31 AM Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 at 10:31 AM "神信念在我是雍容" appears fine though. How so? Care to explain? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaocai Posted February 3, 2012 at 11:50 AM Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 at 11:50 AM Regardless what it actually means in Chinese, one should never choose 宋体 as the font (especially if the content is purely text) when getting his/her tattoo done. Kind of like having an English tattoo in Times New Roman. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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