#chinese characters for tattoos

298 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

lofty crypt
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Greetings, I wish to get several chinese character tattoos but I am unsure if what I want in english translates to chinese.

Here are the following quotes I want in chinese:

  1. 不怕慢, 就怕停
    “Don’t be afraid of going slow, just be afraid of stopping/standing still.”

  2. 吃得苦中苦，方为人上人。

"no pain no gain"

  1. 无规矩不成方圆。
    "without rules, we're nothing but animals"

I wish to know if these chinese translations accurately depict their english quotes.

Thank you.

fair isle
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  1. i think these translations are pretty bad
  2. maybe think about this more, would you get this tattooed in english? if not, what’s the difference in chinese?
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no disrespect intended

dim hemlock
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^^^ agreed and if you're going to get a something tattooed you'd have better luck using an idiom that already exists in Chinese. Translating those things from English will never sound elegant in chinese

lofty crypt
lofty crypt
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Whats an idiom?

dim hemlock
dim hemlock
lofty crypt
dim hemlock
# lofty crypt Whats an idiom?

just any phrase that means more than its words. For example in English "once in a blue moon" in an idiom. Chinese has thousands of these in poems or cheng yu

dim hemlock
hasty steppe
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"老外“ person with a cool backstory

fair isle
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you should get 老外 as a tattoo

hasty steppe
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^^

dim hemlock
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so it's not "all I ever knew." My parents have shown me a lot but I had to explore Chinese culture a lot by myself.

lofty crypt
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Ah, chinese americans are a bit of grey area. They are americans by nationality but are still viewed as foreigners by the rest of society due to various factors including but not limited to, physical differences, different language and culture that are alot different from western ones

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ABCs often deal with identity crisis's for this reason

dim hemlock
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I was born in America

lofty crypt
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Not speaking for you specifically

fair isle
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bruh what are u talking abt

hasty steppe
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you are going off track

dim hemlock
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that's a barely adequate summary of the ABC experience

hasty steppe
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we are suppose to see what tattoo you should get

lofty crypt
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Lets go back to the tattoos

hasty steppe
fair isle
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what tattoos do you already have?

lofty crypt
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But that tattoo means only one thing?

lofty crypt
fair isle
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maybe u should learn chinese first so u dont end up getting tattoos that dont mean anything to you

hasty steppe
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lol get a yakuza tattoo

lofty crypt
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Thats why i made this post

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Im too busy to learn chinese

fair isle
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💀💀

hasty steppe
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💀💀

lofty crypt
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If time gets freed up then i wouldnt mind

dim hemlock
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here's a tattoo with more meaning: "缺狗屎缺生活"

lofty crypt
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Back to my orginal question

hasty steppe
lofty crypt
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Is it not possible to get the quotes i suggested?

hasty steppe
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bro its too long

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tattoos are normally one or two word

fair isle
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“无知老外” 😍😍 so beautiful

hasty steppe
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😍😍

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
lofty crypt
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U mean chinese tattoos are typically 1 or 2 words?

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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look man, translating full sentences from english into chinese will not yield a good tattoo. For your own sake I'd just one or two characters if you're goona do this

hasty steppe
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get get a dragon or somethign

dim hemlock
lofty crypt
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I already placed them on my body and a single or double character would look dumb

hasty steppe
lofty crypt
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Ya'll are just trolling

fair isle
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wdym placed on ur body?

lofty crypt
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If your just going to troll why even comment on my post

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Seems like a waste of everyones time

fair isle
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nobody wants u to get a stupid tattoo

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tbh learn chinese or just get a dragon

lofty crypt
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I didnt force people to respond to my question here

hasty steppe
lofty crypt
hasty steppe
dim hemlock
fair isle
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doesnt compare to ”不怕慢，就怕停”💀

lofty crypt
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Why be mad that someone is using ur culture? Shouldnt that make u feel good that someone likes ur culture enough to wear it permanently

hasty steppe
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what about "同志们辛苦了“

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it means good work comerades

lofty crypt
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This idea that ur not cool enough to wear our culture is so lame

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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I'm not mad at people taking an interest in chinese culture but a lot of the people who try to co-opt Chinese aesthetics don't know any chinese people or are sometimes even straight up racist towards Chinese people lol

lofty crypt
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im not racist towards chinese people, i know many chinese people

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its great that chinese people love their culture but there is a sense of arrogance

lofty crypt
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i dont want to get chinese tattoos simply becuz they are chinese, if that was the case i would have gotten a dragon a long time ago

red solstice
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traditionally tattoos were only meant for criminals, they are seen upon in a far worse light than in western societies

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Nonetheless as an answer to your question the chinese and english do roughly correspond, it's not a machine transation anyway

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however using english idioms in chinese speech is clunky and inelegant, and frankly I think they're cringey but you put what you want on your body

lofty crypt
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Im not trying to please 99 year old grandparents with my tatts

lofty crypt
pseudo latch
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i think it’s ok, if you agree the one in English means, then the one in Chinese is ok

red solstice
pseudo latch
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正确✅

lofty crypt
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How do you know their boomers?

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Is there a way to make the other 2 idioms?

dim hemlock
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lol I have nothing against tattoos, I want some myself. But bad tattoos are very much a thing and people who regularly get tattoos will tell you that

lofty crypt
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Ive waited a long time to get these tattoos

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Im not a young person anymore lol

pseudo latch
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正确 and 自然 blobthumbsup

pseudo latch
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不客气 几几

hasty steppe
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More like traditional values but ok bogerCatWhat

dim hemlock
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the way he phrased them in English leads me to believe that he picked English phrases that happened to have an equivalent in Chinese (which isn't a surpise as they are rather general)

pseudo latch
hasty steppe
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shit bro

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if he put this as his tattoo, i too, would accpet it

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but thing is, this guy does not feel a connection to any the the phrases

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he just thinks it look cool

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if i did my homework on native americans

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can i put on their face paints

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they also said they dont care nor have time to learn chinese

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research?

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you mean a few google searches

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crazy research bro

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i found it

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first hit on google

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.41 seconds

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he asked which one he should get as a tattoo

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ummm

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i really doubt that

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but you do you

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mb yeah i was wrong on that one

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but you really are invested in this

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true

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i love drama

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but this is getting boring'

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your not ANGRY enough

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i also have low energy today

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maybe we can have a round 2 tomorrow

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we'll see

fair isle
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💀💀

lofty crypt
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@worn bone thanks for ur help

dim hemlock
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This is a conversation for a separate time but when it comes to conversations regarding cultural appropriation, I trust what Chinese people in diaspora communities have to say. There’s a reason why this “gatekeeping” exists and while it can be taken too far, it’s really difficult for people in China to understand what it feels like to have your culture ignored or ostracized and then taken by non-Chinese people for their own enjoyment. It’s not that foreign born Chinese people don’t want other to learn and enjoy Chinese culture. It’s that too often it’s not in good faith or blatantly disrespectful, so naturally people have their guard up

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I never said that OP’s original question was disrespectful or offensive. I mostly mentioned that it was odd and tried to make him think about why he wants this tattoo, as a lot of people don’t think before getting a Chinese tattoo. Honestly the only time I got remotely upset was when he was trying to speak on the Chinese American experience, which is a whole nother can of worms

lofty crypt
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U can't get mad at someones personal experince.

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
lofty crypt
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Ur entitled to your opinion as I am entitled to what I put on my body. If u didnt like the concept u didn't have to comment at all 🤷‍♂️

Idk when it became so popular to express your opinion when it doesnt benefit anyone.

dim hemlock
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I mean it’s not just a matter of personal taste. If you were in fact deciding to tattoo something completely wrong and ridiculous you would have the right to do so, but there’s a reason why people would speak up and advise against it

hasty steppe
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i love gate keeping

dim hemlock
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And in my case I think tattooing a language you don’t understand at all is bad in principle, so I was advising against it

hasty steppe
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agreed

dim hemlock
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But youre right, at the end of the day you don’t have to listen to me or anyone else. At the same time the attitude of “who asked” when you in fact did ask is irksome

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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Then get the tattoo after you learn the language? I don’t what else to say. When asked about learning the language earlier you just said “nah”

lofty crypt
hasty steppe
lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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Obviously I know now that I can’t stop you, but as stated previously this is not my first conversation about this particular topic and so I do try to sway people into thinking about why they want a Chinese tatttoo

lofty crypt
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I know people with ethnic tattoos that are pretty ignorant and probably insult either knowingly or unknowingly chinese people while wearing chinese tattoos. This happens pretty often actually. I get it. But as i said before im a mut, I have chinese blood and want to be part of my ancestry

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This can be a stepping stone for more cultural learning opportunities.
who knows, perhaps the next forum request i will be correcting you on proper chinese pronunciation @dim hemlock

dim hemlock
dim hemlock
lofty crypt
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I dont feel the need to disclose that

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I will send you my ass tho, give you something to admire

IMG_20210829_204225_558.jpg
dim hemlock
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You’re right you don’t have to. But the reason I ask is because there’s a non insignificant amount of white people in the US who have 5% Native American ancestry, and some of them really try to play this up as an excuse to engage with cultures they have no business engaging with

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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Ok. I do think that context is important

lofty crypt
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U thought I'm some 1% chinese guy claiming to be 纯血统

dim hemlock
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Again, not tryna stop the tattoo but If you’re interested in learning more about Chinese culture I recommend trying to find Chinese friends. If there’s few in your area, food/history/pop culture are great places to start and I’m sure some people in this sever could give recs

dim hemlock
lofty crypt
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I had a chinese friend that was female for awhile. But it was hard to be friends with her and her click becuz they openly made fun of people in chinese

hasty steppe
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what

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oh

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i read it wrong

lofty crypt
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Being that no one else spoke chinese it never went noticed. Im all for having a good time and postive energy, so it was just weird

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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Wait huh???

lofty crypt
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I dont think it was a chinese thing, or i hope it wasnt

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Maybe they were just evil ppl haha

lofty crypt
# dim hemlock Wait huh???

I live in a very liberal LGBT friendly city. Theres few asians where i live, and the ones that are here are largely gay.

dim hemlock
dim hemlock
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But unless you just don’t like them personally there’s nothing preventing you from making friends with them! Especially knowing that the options for Asian friends are limited lol

lofty crypt
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Athough i have nothing against gays, i would rather befriend people most like me

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The gay experince is not my experince so id rather not persue a relationship with someone in that community if i can

dim hemlock
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Do you not make friends with women or people of different races?

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Or people of different religions or nationalities?

lofty crypt
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Women friends? I think that deserves its own forum

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Yes i have friends of different races, becuz i myself am a person of different races

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No i tend to avoid people of different religons

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And i think most ppl do

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Thats like all of a society lol

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If that wasnt true why dont more jews marry Muslims

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Why dont more hindus marry Christians

dim hemlock
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I mean, that’s marriage lol

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I think deliberately limiting the kinds of people you can make friends with is only a disservice to yourself. You can miss a lot

lofty crypt
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Well i think in all fairness we are using varying levels of the word friend

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U maybe using it as a bit of an aqaintence

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Im using it as a ride or die 🫂

dim hemlock
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I have good friends of all different types

lofty crypt
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Its very hard and unlikely to befriend someone who has very different beleifs and views than urself.

I can still respect them, but for me to make them life long ride or die friends is pretty unlikely

lofty crypt
lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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I’ll be the first person to call out when people are being ridiculous with regards to cultural appropriation but telling people to “seek therapy” (not something that I am personally so flippant about) is dismissive of the larger social context of why people get upset about these things.

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When I say “speak on the Chinese American experience” I was referring to his description of why Chinese Americans might feel insecure about this issue

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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I’m gonna say now that I apologize for the joke suggestions, but I want to make it clear I would have never allowed him to actually follow through with them, nor would he have if she put them into Google translate

dim hemlock
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An oppressed group being gatekeepy of their culture is NOT furthering the same injustice that was dealt onto them.

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You can’t free yourself from oppression by self work. It’s a societal issue. Yes you should work on yourself so that you know how to deal with it, but it doesn’t address the root cause

lofty crypt
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The fact is, in 1m years humans will all look the same from everyone fucking each other. All culture will be the unified culture of humanity so why does it matter in the grand scheme of things?

dim hemlock
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Real Cultural appropriation does not merely lead to hurt feelings. It can actually financially damage communities at its worst

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I’m also struggling to find where I said therapy isn’t a good thing? I’m saying that it can be a catch all for solving societal ills. Of course therapy is great in most cases

dim hemlock
lofty crypt
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Yeah i can definitely say ive felt that growing up

dim hemlock
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You’re right and I admitted that mistake. Admittedly I think my immediate thought process was that he was like <10% Chinese due to his wording as well as my suspicion of people who ask for Chinese tattoos

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But ALSO I maintain the principle of knowing the language of your tattoo. This would equally apply to a Chinese person who didn’t know any Chinese

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I said it shouldn’t be used flippantly in relation to “seek therapy” often being thrown around whenever we see people having issues

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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I already made my explanation about White people claiming Native American ancestry

dim hemlock
lofty crypt
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So where is the line drawn in Gate keeping?

dim hemlock
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I’m done engaging with you. At this point you’re reaching at straws to place me in a shitty light and I don’t care to talk with someone who isn’t acting in good faith.

lofty crypt
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U guys have bad chemistry?

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Yeah alot of people were trolling but in his defense he gave his opinions after he first addressed my questions

dim hemlock
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I wasn’t incessantly throwing personal insults if you care to look at the receipts

lofty crypt
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I think he reacted based on many people previously asking about tattoos and the false narrative that i had little chinese ancestry

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Ah yeah, thats why i dismissed his comments pretty early and seeked better repsonses

dim hemlock
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Lmao you think I’m that bothered to edit previous messages

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Anyhow I was talking about my conversation with you, not him

lofty crypt
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Someone called me a poser

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Idk if it was @dim hemlock

dim hemlock
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I don’t talk like that so no lol

lofty crypt
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Does anyone here have chinese tattoos theyd like to share?

red solstice
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None at all

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not just chinese mind, tattos in general

lofty crypt
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Ur choice, but as u grow u experince new ppl, new places and new ideas, id like to think i am a better man now than 20 years ago. 20 years ago i would have not been open to getting a tattoo

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Thats funny, but i cant help reading this and think you and him have an ongoing beef haha

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All good, appreciate the guidance 🙏

hasty steppe
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you guys STILL talking here

lofty crypt
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Now i remember

red solstice
lofty crypt
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It was anim that called me a poser, no wonder they were so quiet

hasty steppe
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no i wasn't reading

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and yes you are a poser

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that is the definition of you

dim hemlock
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If someone got a tattoo of a dick on their face I would diss them. How is that hard to understand???

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Bad tattoos exist like 😭

lofty crypt
hasty steppe
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you claim to be part chinese but doesn't want to learn the language

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says you are too busy but have time to argue on discord

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i won btw

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i slept good today so i'm full of energy

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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Surpsiringly, op is the most agreeable person to me rn in this thread 👁👄👁

hasty steppe
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dogedrink unless you are working 2 jobs to raise money for your family, you are NOT too busy

lofty crypt
hasty steppe
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you keep making excuses

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just say you want it for its aesthetics

lofty crypt
hasty steppe
dim hemlock
hasty steppe
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4 jobs from craigs list

lofty crypt
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This guy 4real? Lol

worn bone
lofty crypt
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Anims vendetta against me is worse than indigos vendetta against @dim hemlock when he assumes someone is 1% chinese

hasty steppe
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there is no beef only real responses

lofty crypt
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I just dont get why u have to pass the cool test to be in the chinese club.

dim hemlock
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The gag is that I don’t even have vendetta against anyone in this thread. That’s a waste of time and I’d rather save it for bitches in my real life who deserve it 😭

lofty crypt
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U give bitches ur time and not women? RiP to those women

hasty steppe
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anyways

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i kept it pretty civil

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crazy projection

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i've never been bullied nor faced oppression

dim hemlock
lofty crypt
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I think theres also a cultural element. Like their parents forced this mindset on them. Anyone who isnt chinese is an "outsider"

hasty steppe
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you don't even try to become part of the community

dim hemlock
lofty crypt
hasty steppe
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by learning the language

dim hemlock
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My parents never raised me with that kinda upbringing

hasty steppe
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🎟️ entry ticket is attempt to learn the language

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so yes you are an outsider

lofty crypt
dim hemlock
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In the same way that it was wrong for me to assume your ethnic background, I’d like for y’all not to assume my own personal background. It’s as you put it “paternalizing” as well as wrong

lofty crypt
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See @worn bone i can troll too

hasty steppe
lofty crypt
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Haha alright

dim hemlock
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Perhaps rather than weirdly creating artificial sides here we can agree to move on from this stupidity?

lofty crypt
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I think it was a productive discussion

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Untill @hasty steppe showed up

hasty steppe
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?

lofty crypt
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Then it went to hell

lofty crypt
hasty steppe
dim hemlock
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I think few valid points were made in the last half an hour tbf

hasty steppe
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very valid poitnse

meager torrent
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how did a conversation about getting tattoos turn into cultural appropriation

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anyway, those phrases don't really make sense in the language. maybe you could give like a few phrases or a sentence on what you intend to get and people could give recommendations thinkDerp

lofty crypt
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If something rhymes is that like superior or something?

meager torrent
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Not superior per se, but that’s how the Chinese language has always been. Rhyming the sentence is one of the criteria for poetry anyway, so if you can rhyme it nicely, you’ll gain extra brownie points with the Chinese community

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But since we’re not exactly poets, it’s best if you can find one that you resonate with and use that first instead of branching out and making your own, lest you get something like chicken noodle soup tat’d on you