"...Way too many bad tattoos out there..."
TRUE STORY
CinC House (she won't see this so I can say that
) is a corporate executive at a global semiconductor company. She had her Hong Kong manager here for a visit a few years ago. It was July in AZ... We took him to the fancy mall in Snottsdale and everyone was in AZ summer attire (shorts and T's). He saw a young lady walk by...shorty shorts, tube top...and a beautiful tattoo in Chinese characters.
He looks at me and asks about that tattoo. I said, "it's beautiful calligraphy and probably means peace, or harmony, or joy, or something like that."
That's when he gave me the look. "Uh, Steve, that's not what it means." So I asked.
"There's no literal translation in English...it describes the fragrance/aroma of a pile of putrid, rotting fish."
The next stop was a tattoo shop so he could check out their "Chinese Tattoo's" and he explained how half of them were NOT something you'd want on your skin.