Tattoos with meaning

Reku

Came across this and thought some of you might enjoy it since we're occasionally discussed the topic of whether tattoos should have meaning:


I don't think any of my tattoos' "deeper meanings" are embarassing though, disturbing perhaps but not embarassing....

Viva La Gloria

Are they not just taking the piss out of people who claim to have exceptionally meaningful tattoos when really, they're just fairly plain or something?

I don't know, I never really pass judgement on people's tattoos because at the end of the day, you have no idea what it means to them or what it's about. One of my tattoos is particularly meaningful to me, it's lyrics from one of my favourite bands. I absolutely love it and it couldn't be more apt

Reku

Viva La Gloria wrote: »

Are they not just taking the piss out of people who claim to have exceptionally meaningful tattoos when really, they're just fairly plain or something?

I don't know, I never really pass judgement on people's tattoos because at the end of the day, you have no idea what it means to them or what it's about. One of my tattoos is particularly meaningful to me, it's lyrics from one of my favourite bands. I absolutely love it and it couldn't be more apt

Pretty much, as you do get folks who have just randomly picked a piece of flash and try to claim some sort of meaning to it beyond simply "it was the prettiest one they had in the catalogue".:p

My only concern about those who do go and pic a random picture from a catalogue is that as they have no connection with the tattoo they might perhaps be more inclined to regret it later in life.

Atavan-Halen

I wouldn't be of the opinion that every tattoo has to have a personal menaing behind it. I've often thought "hey that'd make a cool tattoo, maybe I'll get it". It's cool if a tattoo does have a meaning but sometimes people just want something pretty or colourful on their body and that's fine too

Viva La Gloria

Reku wrote: »

Pretty much, as you do get folks who have just randomly picked a piece of flash and try to claim some sort of meaning to it beyond simply "it was the prettiest one they had in the catalogue".:p

My only concern about those who do go and pic a random picture from a catalogue is that as they have no connection with the tattoo they might perhaps be more inclined to regret it later in life.

Yeah, that's true. I think as well when people are so fixated on getting a tattoo without putting proper thought into it, it's like they merely get it just for the sake of having a tattoo. Each to their own I suppose

atavan-halen wrote: »

I wouldn't be of the opinion that every tattoo has to have a personal menaing behind it. I've often thought "hey that'd make a cool tattoo, maybe I'll get it". It's cool if a tattoo does have a meaning but sometimes people just want something pretty or colourful on their body and that's fine too

Exactly, because after all, tattooing is an art form so people may very well just want something with an incredible design. I have two which are fairly meaningless and two that are pretty meaningful.

hunter164

I'm awfully compulsive I have tattoos that have meaning but also I just think that'll look good fcuk it I'll get it. I hate Miami Ink stories, ya know my Dad died and he used to sing this lullaby to me so I'm getting the writer of its face on me arm.

Cupcake_Crisis

3 of my tattoo's have a very deep meaning to me, and they're the ones I hide and don't really show to anyone,and i'd never explain them to someone. The rest are just tattoo's i love the look of, one's a cupcake ffs!!:p

chin_grin

It's pretty much why I loathe those X Ink shows. We don't need to know your f*cking life story. I just want more awesome pieces done!

Well, in all fairness I'm watching the wrong tattoo shows if I'm looking for that!

Reku

Cupcake_Crisis wrote: »

3 of my tattoo's have a very deep meaning to me, and they're the ones I hide and don't really show to anyone,and i'd never explain them to someone. The rest are just tattoo's i love the look of, one's a cupcake ffs!!:p

:eek:Imagine if there was "scratch'n'sniff" tattoo ink....:P

All of my tattoos have meaning to me, the text ones are obviously a little less ambiguous than the symbols, but they're life lessons I want to ensure I never let myself forget. The text ones are in white UV ink so they're still pretty private anyway.:)

Ainu

Most of mine have a meaning, but some are just there cause they're pretty :-) I don't think theres a problem with that, but i always find it weird when people with extremely generic tattoos try to tell me theres a meaning behind it. Its everyones own choice in the end, but how does some tribal remind you of your granny....

Cupcake_Crisis

Reku wrote: »

:eek:Imagine if there was "scratch'n'sniff" tattoo ink....:P

I'd have the best smelling foot in the world!!!

I should say, that while not all my tattoo have a deep meaning, all of them are a reflection of me as a person, for example, i have a microphone on my calf because im a singer and singing is a huge part of my life!

Reku

Cupcake_Crisis wrote: »

I'd have the best smelling foot in the world!!!

And when Z-day comes you can kick things off by gnawing on said foot!;)

I guess we can hope that people who come up with pseudo-meanings to go with tattoos are at least honest with themselves as to the real reason they got them, having to have a fake reason for one would be more likely to make them start to regret the tattoo I'd imagine. At least if they can still look at it and go: "ooh, pretty..." or something such they might not try and get it removed.



Tattoo removal - a waste of your time*, the artists time** and of course money***.:(
Once again 'tis the season to remind folks: "A tattoo is for life, not just for Christmas."


* - time spent getting the tattoo and then getting it removed
** - time they spent on the tattoo
*** - that you spent on the tattoo and then getting it removed

ZombieBride

My first was the only one that doesn't have some sort of meaning to me (ah the underage tattoos ftw)
I hate when people ask me their meaning though, as they wouldn't mean the same and the logic behind is a little stretched and warped, but it makes sense to me.

Mental Mickey

hunter164 wrote: »

I'm awfully compulsive I have tattoos that have meaning but also I just think that'll look good fcuk it I'll get it. I hate Miami Ink stories, ya know my Dad died and he used to sing this lullaby to me so I'm getting the writer of its face on me arm.

The "stories" are painful, but some of the tatt's look cool.

Viva La Gloria

Reku wrote: »

Tattoo removal - a waste of your time*, the artists time** and of course money***.:(
Once again 'tis the season to remind folks: "A tattoo is for life, not just for Christmas."

Yeah, I can't really ever imagine wanting to get any of mine removed, even if I was to regret them later on

Angron

I have two tattoos, and I got them for fairly simple reasons:
1. Lead singer of a band I loved died, and I wanted to remember him
2. I love pokemon.

No deeper meaning than that, fairly straight-forward.

bodice ripper

I am of two minds about this.

It is a very basic and very old part of tattooing to make marks upon oneself permanently to remember an event, a person, a place or a feeling. It might be the most basic and fundamental reason to be tattooed. I find it irksome that people become more heavily tattooed and start to look down on script etc as if they as heavily tattooed people can now "really" appreciate the art form and that people who get names,symbols and dates are the uninitiated Great Unwashed. I think its pretty self-evident that that sort of tattoo is tattooing at its most stripped down level - in a good way.

On the other hand, it also annoys the hell out of me when people (largely women I might add...) turn around to me having seen my tattoos and say things like "oh, they look really nice, but *I* could never have a tattoo that didn't have any meaning". What are you basing the assumption that my tattoos are meaningless on, exactly?
Firstly, even if and when I *do* get a tattoo based solely on the aesthetic value, they mark a time in my life that is gone forever. The tattoos I have from when I was 18 are not one bit the kind of thing I would get now, but do I regret them? No, its lovely to have a reminder that I used to be a different person who felt differently than I do now. I think it is a VERY healthy thing to not be able to just shrug off having been that other person.
Secondly, just because I didn't wedge some names or dates into a piece, or get a very particular and relevant number of flowers/stars/petals in an otherwise unconnected piece to "represent" something or someone, does not mean I didn't put any meaning into them. If some one gets a little snotty with me about it, I tell them "Well actually, my right arm is a visual representation of Sailing To Byzantium by Yeats, but you would need to be very familiar with the poem to see any of it. I can talk you through it if you would like...". But of course they don't want that, they want a simple, blunt and frequently hamfisted meaning, preferably about rising from the ashes or struggle with non-specific adversity.

So in summary, I think it is best to do other people the courtesy of assuming that they know what is best for them when it comes to tattoos - at the very least until you have spoken with them at length about it. At least then you are forming you opinions on their choice of tattoos with some actual info.

bodice ripper

Also, I reposted that post on my blog. I don't know why, but it struck me as somehow rude to repost something from this board and not mention it. I suspect I am just a very uptight person, but it just seemed not cool to not say I had done so.

I have several tattoos, all of which have butterflies in some form in them. some people take issue with "butterfly" tattoos, as they're "tacky" and "a trend", I had my first tattoo a long long (long ) time ago, before butterfly tattoos were necessarily the thing to have. I had it done on the top of my spine, again there weren't an awful lot of girls who had tattoos there, now they're quite popular.

My most recent tattoo is on the inside of my forearm, it's two butterflies and some flowers with a beautiful fliagree design. It's amazing the amount of people who actually think they know the meaning of that tattoo! I unfortunately lost two children a few years ago and so many people assume that the two butterflies represent them. It doesn't! It has no meaning at all, I just absolutely love it!

I think it's nice to have tattoos with meaning, but I think it's just as nice to have pictures there that you just love to look at!

Just Like Heaven

I feel i'd be more likely to regret a tattoo if it was something super meaningful to me -obviously that isn't the case for everybody, and i'm sure i'll get many, many tattoos with meaning in the future, I said that moreso cause of my age at present.

But I hate how there seems to be such pressure (pressure not exactly the correct word) from people who don't follow tattoos, for a tattoo to have meaning or be symbolic, there's no way it was that bad before people started getting tattoos on LA ink!

Erin did my back last week (Thanks again!) and on the train on the way home I showed it to a friend, who must have told me what it meant and represented for over 15 minutes :pac:

"Erm... No. It's just a bird."

MissMoppet

bodice ripper wrote: »

"Well actually, my right arm is a visual representation of Sailing To Byzantium by Yeats, but you would need to be very familiar with the poem to see any of it.

One of my favourite poems!:)

Also my tattoos all have a personal meaning. I wouldn't get a tattoo just to have it. But I've nothing against people who do. :rolleyes:

Arawn

All my tattoo's mean something, namely that I like tattoo's. That's deep huh?