Saturday, January 20, 2007

Sad & Happy

The character has multiple meanings depending on the context. Commonly it means "happy/joy". When combined with other characters, it would then mean "music".


http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A70113/high/bmepb429211.jpg

I don't know this young man's original intention when he picked what appears to be (sad/mourning) and .

I could only assume he wanted "sad & happy", however this appears to be "dirge", or "funeral music".

8 comments:

  1. “丧”in 文言文 has a rare usage where it serves as a transitive verb: "loss of delight."

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  2. Well, maybe he wanted "dirge"? It's plenty goth. ;P

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  3. Looks like it could be chang, 'long'

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  4. In Japanese, there is the four-character compound 喜怒哀楽, which refers to emotions in general (happiness, anger, sadness, pleasure). I would assume it comes from Chinese as most such compounds do, but anyway, that tattoo is missing the first part, the first kanji is messed up, and it's a lame idea for a tattoo anyway.

    Incidentally, 哀歌 works better in Japanese for lament, though some compounds do use 楽 for music (洋楽、邦楽、弦楽、吹奏楽、etc.).

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  5. Yea..哀樂 from 喜怒哀樂 seems to make a bit more sense. Perhaps he mistook 喪 for 哀? They do look similar.

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  6. last summer i saw this girl with 死鳥 written on her back. :/ i wonder what she thought it meant.

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  7. Perhaps she tryed to get 不死鳥 (Phoenix Bird) and couldn't afford to pay for the 1st kanji...

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  8. 死鳥 "Dead bird" or "Bird of Death" that could have been done on purpose.

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