Tattoo Translation
 

If you have a tattoo with Asian characters, how confident are you of its real meaning? This morning we had a Chinese linguist from Augustana come into the studio. We had listeners send in their tattoos and here are the results!

	Rick says that his tattoo means "speed" for his addiction of driving bikes, cars and anything fast. Translation: Correct!! It does mean speed.
	Katie's symbol means "To Dress Up/Beautify" Translation: Correct! In China they would not normally use this character by itself, usually along with other characters.
	Laura's means "courage" in Japanese Translation: This is correct, they have the same character in Chinese.
	Dave says that the top 2 symbols are his sons name David, and the bottom one is the symbol for the chinese year of the rat. Translation: Correct again.
	Mike says his is supposed to mean strength, honesty/trust and friendship. The tat was done at O'Toole in Rock Island but he got the lettering from a little Asian lady who sells tea at the farmers market, supposed to be in old world Mandrin Chinese. Translation: This is partially correct. Of the 5 characters the 1st means strength and the 4th and 5th mean friendship. But the 2nd character means simplicity and the 3rd means tao.
	Kim says her tattoo means "family" Translation: It is correct!
	Boyfriend got this in Mexico, any ideas? Translation: Means mother and child. Child can be son or daughter or just child. Does not mean "momma's boy" as Dwyer suggested!
	Charlie says that her tattoo is Kanji for"Dignity and Honor" Translation: Kanji is Japanese so it could be fine. But in Chinese it would mean "to deceive".
	Jenny wrote in: This is my best friend's soon-to-be ex-husband. He says it's supposedly bad luck to tell what it means, she says it's supposed to say things including strength and courage. Translation: The one on the back of the neck is courage. 2nd line means Father (middle character is just a design). Some other characters mean crazy, to represent, value, dangerous, scared/scary, head, weird, handicapped, some down the middle mean strength, crisis, "get out of here" (right bottom character).
	Troy's tattoo means ball, as in basketball. Translation: Correct, it just means ball.
	John's tattoo means "moon beam". Translation: Correct, actual meaning is moonlight.
Means "gentle" Translation: Again this is not Chinese, it's Japanese but the closest translation is "This is started"
	Means "love" Translation: Yes, it means love.