Thread: I'm thinking about getting a tattoo.

I want to get a tatoo of something in Russian on my forearm, but I want to make sure that when I go to get "Truth" or something that they don't tattoo "monkey butt" on my arm.

Here are some words that I'm thinking about getting. I've looked most of them up on www.freetranslation.com, but I don't really trust it for something this serious and permenant:

Honor
Trust
Truth
Valor
Honesty
Passion
Justice
Toast/Toaster (if there is a more colloquial version other than тост/тостер)

I searched through my dictionary (Lingvo) to see what is "valor" and didn't notice it was switched to German. I was soo astonished you decided to tattoo "capital issues"
Honor Честь
Trust Доверие, Вера (two different meanings!)
Truth Правда, Истина (two different meanings!)
Valor Мужество
Honesty Честность
Passion Страсть
Justice Справедливость
Toast/Toaster (if there is a more colloquial version other than тост/тостер) there is no better version than тостер

Aside from the ex-cons and guys in the military, are tatoos very popular in Russia? In California they are very popular but in Russia I haven't seen them on so many people, and I don't think I've seen any on girls.

Originally Posted by JB

Aside from the ex-cons and guys in the military, are tatoos very popular in Russia? In California they are very popular but in Russia I haven't seen them on so many people, and I don't think I've seen any on girls.

They are probably a bit less popular than in California, but I did see a few, also on girls, last time I was back home in Ukraine and several girls I knew like 10 years back had some, too. As both demand and supply picks up, I suspect we'll be seeing still more in the future.

If I see a person with the tatoo "Вера" or "Справедливость", I will be pretty sure that he is an ex-convict. As I can see tatoos are not very popular here; and people who want to get it prefer some pictures to russian words in their tatoos
My favourite russian tatoo is "Не забуду мать родную". You will have a deep respect in Russia if you get this one

Originally Posted by Rostova

If I see a person with the tatoo "Вера" or "Справедливость", I will be pretty sure that he is an ex-convict. As I can see tatoos are not very popular here; and people who want to get it prefer some pictures to russian words in their tatoos
My favourite russian tatoo is "Не забуду мать родную". You will have a deep respect in Russia if you get this one

Oh yes, definitely. ANY russian word, especially standing alone in capital letters, hints at being an ex-convict. Typically those have a second "hidden abbreviation" meaning, e.g.:

http://tatoo.h1.ru/criminal/abbreviat.htm

so if you are thinking about doing something like that maybe you should think again

A lot of people care less and less about what meaning their tattoos bear. They just select a tattoo they like best and get it made.

Originally Posted by Rostova

If I see a person with the tatoo "Вера" or "Справедливость", I will be pretty sure that he is an ex-convict. As I can see tatoos are not very popular here; and people who want to get it prefer some pictures to russian words in their tatoos
My favourite russian tatoo is "Не забуду мать родную". You will have a deep respect in Russia if you get this one

Небольшое дополнение из http://education.kulichki.net/profi/pri4.html
"...Второе классическое правило воровского братства - не имей семьи. До 70-х годов законникам запрещалось жениться, иметь детей и даже поддерживать связь с родителями. Считается, что известная татуировка "Не забуду мать родную" имеет несколько иной смысл. Под "матерью" понималась воровская семья, которая вскормила и воспитала..."