http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A30419/high/pictures2153.jpg
The character 外 means "out, outside, external; foreign", and the character 宅 means "residence, dwelling, home".
If the tattooed phrase was read from right-to-left, it would mean "the exterior of a house".
But if it was read from left-to-right, then it would mean "outside house" or "out house":
outhouse n : a small outbuilding with a bench having holes through which a user can defecate.
But does "out house" mean toilet in Mandarin also?
ReplyDeleteshi-hsia the bu hui jiang hua yi de
In Chinese "restroom" is 洗手閒, which means "washing-hands room".
ReplyDelete廁所 is an alternative, which means "latrine".
茅房 is "outhouse", 茅缸 is "shit container".
馬桶, which translates as "toilet" actually mean "horse bucket".
shi-hsia,
ReplyDelete"the bu hui jiang hua yi de", do you mean "這不會講華語的", "the one does not know how to speak Mandarin"?
Yup. I'm what's known in Malaysian slang as a 'banana' (yellow skin, white inside), meaning an ethnic Chinese who doesn't speak Chinese - unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI *do* know the phrase 'xi shou jian'. Very useful.
shi-hsia
i like to pooh
ReplyDeleteHey,
ReplyDeleteI want a tatoo in the "true" chinese written word to say "Trust GOD" can you email me the correct way to write this phrase?
This will be for my 42 birthday on June 27th!
Thank-you,
Lisa
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteWhy would you tag yourself like a piece of U.S. Currency? "In God We Trust"?