Shannon Larratt from BMEzine.com emails me this photo submitted by one of his readers. It is a tattoo on the wrist of someone's wife.
I am very confused about why would anyone tattoo "my abusive husband pimps me out". Is this some sort of advertisement? If so, where is the price list? Perhaps on her lower back?
The Chinese word for "pimp" is 拉皮條者.
拉 = pull, drag; seize, hold; lengthen
夫 = man, male adult, husband
勢 = power, force; tendency
賤 = low; cheap, worthless
人 = man; people; mankind
Maybe it's "abusive husband fights untermensch". Or maybe 夫人 is supposed to be together and the whole thing is "Madam Pull-Force-Inferior".
ReplyDeleteI got nothing.
My Chinese-speaking co-workers' comments: "Huh?"
ReplyDeleteAfter consulting a few dictionaries, I've found a couple definitions: "拉夫" means "to shanghai" (i.e. to force people into military service) and "賤人" means "slut" or "sleazebag". I'm not sure how "勢" is supposed to fit into this, though one of the definitions of this word is "testicles", according to my dictionary.
ReplyDeleteA colleague suggested that "拉夫" (lit. "pull husband") could mean "to seduce [other women's] husbands".
Perhaps this woman is trying to express her enjoyment of seducing other women's husbands. Or maybe, looking at it word-for-word, she's a "sleazy" "person" who "pulls" her "husband's" "testicles".
Folks,
ReplyDeleteHere's a slightly odd request: I'd want a tattoo with the Chinese characters for "lo fan." Kind of an inside joke...
Could the good folks at hanzismatter show me the characters? And no mistranslations please (;)
"Lo Fan" in what context? Have you checked the pronounciation table at Zhongwen.com?
ReplyDeletehttp://zhongwen.com/s/ziyin.htm
-t
"Lo fan" in the context of, "who's that Anglo lo fan who's wearing a tattoo that says `lo fan`? Wonder if he knows what it says?"
ReplyDeleteKinda circular :)
zhongwen.com doesn't have it listed, but I'm sure I don't know the correct pinyin.
"lo fan" is a Cantonese-specific term. I'm unsure whether it would be understood by Mandarin speakers. The characters are 老番 and pronounced /lou5 faan1/ in Cantonese.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks!
ReplyDeleteWHAT DO THESE MEAN- 夫人
ReplyDelete夫人 lady; madam; Mrs.
ReplyDeleteAssuming that 勢 really means 是 since they sound alike, I think this thing can potentially mean:
ReplyDelete1) 老番是贱人: White people (老番)
are (是) sleazebag (贱人)
2) 拉夫是贱人: Seduce someone's husband (拉夫), then you are (是) a sleazebag (贱人)
-SteveC
my mommy from hong kong says it says this:
ReplyDeleterickshaw driver forces worthless person.
I have a new theory: "Ralph is a bitch" (拉夫是賤人)
ReplyDelete