<p>I'm going to 答非所问 for a quick second.</p>

<p>There <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060712150335/http://www.naturalexpressions.org/Tattoo_Flash_CKE.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">used</a> to be this <a href="https://www.naturalexpressions.org/Tattoo_Flash_CKE2.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">font</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"Natural Expressions"<br>
  Chinese/Kanji &amp; Egyptian Flash/Design Sheets</p>
</blockquote>

<p>that offered:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>8 Chinese/Kanji &amp; Egyptian Flash/Design Sheets<br>
  Here are some wonderful Chinese/Kanji &amp; Egyptian Flash Design Sheets which are very popular and a must for any modern tattoo parlor. This set of the 8 flash sheets contains 100's of different images/characters! Line drawings are not included/available with this set. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>which included this English to Chinese/Kanji tattoo translation sheet:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/hqCiz.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/hqCiz.gif" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>all for this price of:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>U.S. $64.99</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p><a href="http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/2006/08/gibberish-asian-font-mystery-solved.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Hanzismatter</a> also deciphered the tattoo writings like this:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/XgAMB.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/XgAMB.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>But as they mention it's mostly all gibberish.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-20T00:11:05.973Z
2019-07-20T00:11:05.973Z
Mou某
<p>Tattoo writing is not always identifiable. It is just a painting on the skin. Characters might be degenerated. But, it is not Chinese writing from its shape.</p>

<p>It looks like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddha%E1%B9%83_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Siddhaṃ script</a> which is used in Buddhist Sanskrit writing. There are lots of variants over centuries. Tibetan script is a variant of Siddhaṃ script too. </p>

<p>The best guess is the mantra, Oṃ Maṇi Padme Hūṃ (嗡嘛呢叭咪吽), also known as sadaksara (six syllabled, 六字真言). There is no unique interpretation of this mantra. It is about jewel and lotus.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/mrsuf.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/mrsuf.png" alt="in siddham"></a></p>

<p>The mantra is so widespread along with Buddhism and have been translated in various languages in the past. </p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/lyeOT.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/lyeOT.jpg" alt="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/1348_Mogaoku_Stele.jpg"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-20T07:24:15.210Z
2019-07-20T07:24:15.210Z
OmniBus
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ATctn.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ATctn.jpg" alt="Can anyone tell what it&#39;s supposed to say?"></a></p>

<p>Can anyone tell what this tattoo is supposed to say, or if it actually means anything at all?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-19T23:51:53.157Z
This is not Chinese. It is either a substitution cipher, fake writing "inspired" by Chinese character shapes, or just complete nonsense.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-20T00:16:33.587Z
The owner says it was supposed to mean something but he can't remember what, so I thought that the tattoo artist copied some stylized characters from some Chinese products which combined with his complete lack of knowledge about them resulted in even more weird characters...
Andrew
<translation>
Can anyone figure out if this tattoo means anything?
# Can anyone figure out if this tattoo means anything?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-07-19)

[![Can anyone tell what it's supposed to say?](https://i.sstatic.net/ATctn.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/ATctn.jpg)

Can anyone tell what this tattoo is supposed to say, or if it actually means anything at all?

**Tags:** translation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This is not Chinese. It is either a substitution cipher, fake writing "inspired" by Chinese character shapes, or just complete nonsense.  
> **username_0**: The owner says it was supposed to mean something but he can't remember what, so I thought that the tattoo artist copied some stylized characters from some Chinese products which combined with his complete lack of knowledge about them resulted in even more weird characters...  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-07-20. Score: 1

I'm going to 答非所问 for a quick second.

There [used](https://web.archive.org/web/20060712150335/http://www.naturalexpressions.org/Tattoo_Flash_CKE.html) to be this [font](https://www.naturalexpressions.org/Tattoo_Flash_CKE2.html):

> "Natural Expressions"  
> Chinese/Kanji & Egyptian Flash/Design Sheets

that offered:

> 8 Chinese/Kanji & Egyptian Flash/Design Sheets  
> Here are some wonderful Chinese/Kanji & Egyptian Flash Design Sheets which are very popular and a must for any modern tattoo parlor. This set of the 8 flash sheets contains 100's of different images/characters! Line drawings are not included/available with this set.

which included this English to Chinese/Kanji tattoo translation sheet:

> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/hqCiz.gif)](https://i.sstatic.net/hqCiz.gif)

all for this price of:

> U.S. $64.99

---

[Hanzismatter](http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/2006/08/gibberish-asian-font-mystery-solved.html) also deciphered the tattoo writings like this:

> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/XgAMB.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/XgAMB.jpg)

But as they mention it's mostly all gibberish.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-07-20. Score: 0

Tattoo writing is not always identifiable. It is just a painting on the skin. Characters might be degenerated. But, it is not Chinese writing from its shape.

It looks like [Siddhaṃ script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddha%E1%B9%83_script) which is used in Buddhist Sanskrit writing. There are lots of variants over centuries. Tibetan script is a variant of Siddhaṃ script too.

The best guess is the mantra, Oṃ Maṇi Padme Hūṃ (嗡嘛呢叭咪吽), also known as sadaksara (six syllabled, 六字真言). There is no unique interpretation of this mantra. It is about jewel and lotus.

[![in siddham](https://i.sstatic.net/mrsuf.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/mrsuf.png)

The mantra is so widespread along with Buddhism and have been translated in various languages in the past.

[![https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/1348_Mogaoku_Stele.jpg](https://i.sstatic.net/lyeOT.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/lyeOT.jpg)


---

