Cool, until a friend from Beijing pointed out to me with some amusement, that the girl at the table next to us had a tattoo on her arm which meant 'Ladies Toilet'.
And this is the thing. I have a very rudimentary grasp of written Chinese and Japanese, but even EYE know you can't translate things literally. How you combine characters matters! Every modern language has nuance and colloquialisms, and in fact the whole way of thinking behind Japanese and Chinese language systems is completely different from Western languages and thinking. So you can't just pick up a dictionary and translate things word for word. You need to know how the language works to convey the meaning ...and also how these characters might be read in the modern context. It's like my Japanese friends who keep saying 'I will meet you around the backside'. This makes perfect sense, logically - it is the back, side of the building. But in everyday British English backside only has one real meaning: somebody's posterior!
And the same for this poor girl's tattoo. 女 is a Chinese character meaning 'woman' or 'female'. But in everyday Chinese - and you see this here in Singapore too - it is the sign for Ladies Toilets!
There has also been controversy over some celebrity tattoos - which look great but have no or confusing meaning in the Asian language they're supposed to represent. Tattoos are kind of a permanent thing. And you would think that (especially if you're a wealthy celebrity) it would be worth getting a proper translator on board before actually committing to the design!
Meanwhile, I welcome any input from Japanese or Chinese speakers as to whether Mel C's tattoo (below) really means 'Girl Power' - or not!
No comments:
Post a Comment