RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave

Collarspace Discussion Forums

Home Login Search

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> General BDSM Discussion >> RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave

Page: << < prev 1 2 [3] 4 next > >>

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/25/2008 10:25:20 PM

zakkan

Posts: 606
Joined: 4/15/2008
Status: offline

I agree that if you come to Asia with such a tattoo, you will receive many funny looks. Personally, I will think that you were duped by the tattoo artist.

_____________________________

Silence! I keel you!

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Profile

Post #: 41

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/25/2008 11:39:31 PM

badlilthang

Posts: 357
Joined: 6/22/2006
Status: offline

http://www.stockkanji.com/Words/Slave+(dorei).htm

this is japanese, though...s...dorei (slave).....

This Japanese word translates also as "servant" and is composed of the kanji

(read as "do") meaning "slave; servant" and

(read as "rei") also meaning "slave; servant".

_____________________________

.Forgiveness is the fragrance a flower leaves in the air after being crushed underfoot.

(in reply to zakkan)

Profile

Post #: 42

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 12:16:03 AM

Sexycelticlady

Posts: 112
Joined: 7/20/2008
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: variation30

I don't know anyone who has gotten an oriental symbol tattoo on their lower back/ankle who has not regretted it.

granted, I only know three people who've done this but...still...

I have the chinese symbol for strength on my right ankle. I got it after making it through a bad period of clinical depression. I have had it 10 years and hve not regretted it one. I also have another tattoo on my lower back and will never doubt getting that one either. I think it depends entirely on the reason for getting the tattoo. If it has special meaning to you it will always be a positive part of you.

(in reply to variation30)

Profile

Post #: 43

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 1:20:35 AM

Lordandmaster

Posts: 10943
Joined: 6/22/2004
Status: offline

This is exactly the same word that, as I've said a few times now, has all the wrong connotations.

I give up. If you want to write 奴隸 on your body, go ahead. Americans will be like Wow I can't read that so it must be very meaningful. Asians will be like OK they couldn't figure out a better way to say "slave."

quote:

ORIGINAL: badlilthang

http://www.stockkanji.com/Words/Slave+(dorei).htm

this is japanese, though...s...dorei (slave).....

This Japanese word translates also as "servant" and is composed of the kanji (read as "do") meaning "slave; servant" and (read as "rei") also meaning "slave; servant".

(in reply to badlilthang)

Profile

Post #: 44

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 3:15:25 AM

Aileen1968

Posts: 6062
Joined: 12/12/2007
From: I miss Shore, New Jersey
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: variation30

I don't know anyone who has gotten an oriental symbol tattoo on their lower back/ankle who has not regretted it.

granted, I only know three people who've done this but...still...

I have kanji on the back of my neck. It was my first tattoo and I absolutely love it. No regrets at all.
You should expand your circle...

_____________________________

The Red

(in reply to variation30)

Profile

Post #: 45

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 5:56:14 AM

Mercnbeth

Posts: 11766
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

Come on, Merc. Going to some amateur website for information about Chinese writing is not much better than having a Japanese person visit Engrish.com for information about our language. (Or consulting the famed book "English as She Is Spoke.") Not all sources are equally valid.

(And yes, there is an Engrish.com. It's hilarious.)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth
Gee so sensitive L&M - Forgive me - YOUR's is the 'one true definition'. The website I used or any website, or other reference for that matter should defer to your absolutism and 'one true link'.

L&M, you pick a perfect comparison. Should a Chinese, or Japanese person look in an English dictionary they'll see many definitions for the same word. They'll see words sounding alike but with completely different definitions. They'll see completely differer looking words with the same definition. Is English unique in that regard?

Not that it matters, but the person who put the tattoo on beth and me was Chinese. She said there were many different ways to express the sentiment we wanted to represent and the ones we chose were appropriate. Now, if she wanted to just have a couple of dumb Americans sporting her joke and tell her friends about it - I guess we were victims.

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Profile

Post #: 46

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 6:20:02 AM

marie2

Posts: 1690
Joined: 11/4/2008
From: Jersey
Status: offline

This reminds me a lot of the thread last week about the meaning of the word slut. Some interpret it as a sexually liberated woman, others interpret it as a trashy promiscuous woman. Others say it has evolved from something once dirty and negative to something respectable and positive in today's day and age. "Bitch" also comes to mind; it used to be used as a put-down towards a female, and now it's sometimes used as a term that means "aggressive and confident female go-getter". Imagine an asian woman having the word Bitch tatooed to her body seeing it as a positive term that describes her personality, and then finding out from an English expert that it also means "female dog". I would imagine the same evolutions and varying meanings and interpretations exist in other languages as well.

< Message edited by marie2 -- 11/26/2008 6:21:00 AM >

(in reply to Mercnbeth)

Profile

Post #: 47

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 6:38:06 AM

persephonee

Posts: 5089
Joined: 12/15/2007
Status: offline

and this reminds me of the promise of a good figging story and how "sorely" disappointed i was...ahem...marie....

i think that tattoos are personal and sometimes if you go for something specific you get burned...like using characters in a language that you dont know fluently...but also, does it really freaking matter what anyone but you and yours think of yours? Nope....its always funny to hear that someone got asshole tattooed on themselves, but generally the victim is kind of an asshole anyway...thus the humor.

i have a tat of a flower that i drew myself. it was done by a man while i was in bed with him and his wife...and its kind of crooked and every one thinks its like a hummmingbird or something....but every time someone has to ask about it..they also touch my right tit...and laugh at the story and then know that im all easy and kinky and whatnot...so seriously, the tat does its job.

love to Mercnbeth...and marie too....

perse

_____________________________

You be the Captain; i'll be no one.

And You can carry me away....if You want to. ~Kasey Chambers

E*Whore, extraordinaire....

Nothing is exactly as it seems~Nor, is it otherwise.

(in reply to marie2)

Profile

Post #: 48

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 6:43:47 AM

Lordandmaster

Posts: 10943
Joined: 6/22/2004
Status: offline

Exactly right. And...you can't find those shades of meaning explained on some amateur website. Nor can you simply make them up.

Anyway, let people write on themselves whatever they want to write on themselves.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth

Should a Chinese, or Japanese person look in an English dictionary they'll see many definitions for the same word. They'll see words sounding alike but with completely different definitions. They'll see completely differer looking words with the same definition. Is English unique in that regard?

(in reply to Mercnbeth)

Profile

Post #: 49

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 6:45:55 AM

BlackPhx

Posts: 3432
Joined: 11/8/2006
Status: offline

I actually want a tat that says No User Serviceable parts inside. But BP and I are working on one with a black phoenix..the problem is making it look like a phoenix not a blob or a crow..or a polish phoenix...sigh.. TRICKY.. any good artists out here?

poenkitten

(in reply to persephonee)

Profile

Post #: 50

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 7:04:28 AM

marie2

Posts: 1690
Joined: 11/4/2008
From: Jersey
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: persephonee

and this reminds me of the promise of a good figging story and how "sorely" disappointed i was...ahem...marie....

Ha! This almost feels like a dare to me. Ya know, I still have the rest of it in the fridge.

Oh, and poor Aileen. She's been gagged and I can't see what she said. I think she's trying to tell the story of how she tried to get "figging whore" tatooed to her body, but they wrote "ginger ass" instead.

(in reply to persephonee)

Profile

Post #: 51

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 8:24:57 AM

slaveforsure

Posts: 17
Joined: 5/6/2008
Status: offline

Wow – a lot has gone on here since I was last able to post. Again – thanks everyone for your comments and help.

I will restate -- the reason I came here asking for suggestions and advice is because I don’t read/write/speak Chinese – and other than googling “chineese symbol for slave” I had no idea how to decipher the correct one. I most certainly do not want to walk around with symbols that mean forced into slavery or referring to slavery of the government – So I guess I got exactly what I wanted from this thread – I know now to find something else to use – thank you Lordandmaster for pointing me in some great directions (once I can figure out how to view the characters you typed out, I will look into using them as those are more along the lines of ‘slave’ as my Master and I see it)

I realized from posting this thread that my fear is not wearing a permanent mark but it’s wearing a permanent mark that may inevitably turn out to be ‘wrong’. Having just admitted that and hearing some of you speak of friends who have regretted it, or how I may go to china and they’ll see me wearing slave on my arm (it’s going on the small of my back fyi and I will be able to make sure it’s covered when I want it to be) I’m sure some of you are still going to question such a decision. Why not get a picture? Or something that just means slave to me? Besides simply not wanting a picture on my back I want something that has more than ‘relative’ meaning. I think wearing the word slave on my back (albeit in a foreign language I don’t read, speak or understand) subtly advertises what I am and it has concrete meaning. But the beauty of it is that I can wear it around in my world and how many people are truly going to know what it means outside of my Master, my friends in the lifestyle and myself? The relativity of it is that I can tell the vanilla’s in my life it means whatever I want them to think it means. Sure I may run into a Chinese guy on the beach in the Caribbean who may read my tattoo and know what it means and that’s fine by me I am proud to be a slave – I’m not ashamed of it. If my life and career didn’t require such a vanilla façade I’d consider just using the English word instead.

(in reply to marie2)

Profile

Post #: 52

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 8:28:21 AM

persephonee

Posts: 5089
Joined: 12/15/2007
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: marie2

quote:

ORIGINAL: persephonee

and this reminds me of the promise of a good figging story and how "sorely" disappointed i was...ahem...marie....

Ha! This almost feels like a dare to me. Ya know, I still have the rest of it in the fridge.

Oh, and poor Aileen. She's been gagged and I can't see what she said. I think she's trying to tell the story of how she tried to get "figging whore" tatooed to her body, but they wrote "ginger ass" instead.

omg...her gag oughta be off soonish...shouldnt it?...i NEED to hear that story!...and you can toss the ginger...its too old to cook wtih now and besides...it was obviously flawed in some way...as evidenced by my upset and anguish

Happy Turkey Day marie

_____________________________

You be the Captain; i'll be no one.

And You can carry me away....if You want to. ~Kasey Chambers

E*Whore, extraordinaire....

Nothing is exactly as it seems~Nor, is it otherwise.

(in reply to marie2)

Profile

Post #: 53

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 8:43:32 AM

tkenslve

Posts: 98
Joined: 2/23/2004
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: slaveforsure

Wow – a lot has gone on here since I was last able to post. Again – thanks everyone for your comments and help.

I will restate -- the reason I came here asking for suggestions and advice is because I don’t read/write/speak Chinese – and other than googling “chineese symbol for slave” I had no idea how to decipher the correct one. I most certainly do not want to walk around with symbols that mean forced into slavery or referring to slavery of the government – So I guess I got exactly what I wanted from this thread – I know now to find something else to use – thank you Lordandmaster for pointing me in some great directions (once I can figure out how to view the characters you typed out, I will look into using them as those are more along the lines of ‘slave’ as my Master and I see it)

I realized from posting this thread that my fear is not wearing a permanent mark but it’s wearing a permanent mark that may inevitably turn out to be ‘wrong’. Having just admitted that and hearing some of you speak of friends who have regretted it, or how I may go to china and they’ll see me wearing slave on my arm (it’s going on the small of my back fyi and I will be able to make sure it’s covered when I want it to be) I’m sure some of you are still going to question such a decision. Why not get a picture? Or something that just means slave to me? Besides simply not wanting a picture on my back I want something that has more than ‘relative’ meaning. I think wearing the word slave on my back (albeit in a foreign language I don’t read, speak or understand) subtly advertises what I am and it has concrete meaning. But the beauty of it is that I can wear it around in my world and how many people are truly going to know what it means outside of my Master, my friends in the lifestyle and myself? The relativity of it is that I can tell the vanilla’s in my life it means whatever I want them to think it means. Sure I may run into a Chinese guy on the beach in the Caribbean who may read my tattoo and know what it means and that’s fine by me I am proud to be a slave – I’m not ashamed of it. If my life and career didn’t require such a vanilla façade I’d consider just using the English word instead.

A few things about your post, first, you say that it is going to be in the small of your back and that you can hide it when you wish... why can you hide it when possibly visiting China but not when interacting with co workers or friends?

And you said you liked the idea because it has concrete meaning... but by lying about what it means, it doesnt have concrete meaning, it still only means what you are going to tell people it means... the same as a picture or other relative tattoo.

i am not advocating one choice or another, its your body, i just wanted to point out a few thoughts i had after reading your post.

Oh, and for the record, i have a tattoo( a sunflower with a chain as the stem) given to me by my Master and i chose to have something that i would not regret putting on my body even if we dont last forever.

< Message edited by tkenslve -- 11/26/2008 8:44:41 AM >

_____________________________

Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again. - Tori Amos

(in reply to slaveforsure)

Profile

Post #: 54

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 9:28:42 AM

slaveforsure

Posts: 17
Joined: 5/6/2008
Status: offline

[/quote]

A few things about your post, first, you say that it is going to be in the small of your back and that you can hide it when you wish... why can you hide it when possibly visiting China but not when interacting with co workers or friends?

And you said you liked the idea because it has concrete meaning... but by lying about what it means, it doesnt have concrete meaning, it still only means what you are going to tell people it means... the same as a picture or other relative tattoo.

i am not advocating one choice or another, its your body, i just wanted to point out a few thoughts i had after reading your post.

Oh, and for the record, i have a tattoo( a sunflower with a chain as the stem) given to me by my Master and i chose to have something that i would not regret putting on my body even if we dont last forever.
[/quote]

Fair enough questions --- Why can I hide it when I possibly visit China but not when I’m with friends/co workers/family? Simple -- I lead a very active urban lifestyle. I spend a lot of time out and about with friends (many of whom are also co workers) in the summer -- time at the beach, boating, playing sports, etc. I also spend a lot of time around young children. Should my shirt ride up -- I’m not going to answer to an 8 year old why i have the word 'slave' on my back – also not something I am going to explain to co-workers who happen to be playing in a charity sand volleyball tournament with me.

If such people ask what it means and I lie about it I don’t think that takes away the concrete meaning. I’m just taking advantage of their naivety. You can’t change the meaning of the tattoo. If someone capable of reading it sees it– ok fine, I’m not trying to lie about or pretend I got ‘taken’ by my tattoo artist. For me this is just a good place to hide between what I am and the vanilla life I’m stuck living.

(in reply to tkenslve)

Profile

Post #: 55

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 9:36:23 AM

zakkan

Posts: 606
Joined: 4/15/2008
Status: offline

You know, it would be a lot easier if your dom gets an accompanying tattoo, stating he is the master. You will only get weird looks (in China) with a 奴婢 tattoo, but if your dom has 主公 to go along with it, everyone will be able to guess the implicit meaning.

Thats means master, btw.

< Message edited by zakkan -- 11/26/2008 9:37:06 AM >

_____________________________

Silence! I keel you!

(in reply to slaveforsure)

Profile

Post #: 56

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 10:13:45 AM

Mercnbeth

Posts: 11766
Status: offline

quote:

If such people ask what it means and I lie about it I don’t think that takes away the concrete meaning. I’m just taking advantage of their naivety. You can’t change the meaning of the tattoo. If someone capable of reading it sees it– ok fine, I’m not trying to lie about or pretend I got ‘taken’ by my tattoo artist. For me this is just a good place to hide between what I am and the vanilla life I’m stuck living.

sfs.
I'm going to live up to the 'subtle as a Steel warm-up' signature line - Don't get the tattoo. You're not ready to be identified with the commitment it represents. Because that is the only answer that's necessary. It means, or represents, my commitment to my partner.

Using any of the references provided for the symbol in question, including L&M's, or use them as a combined reference and you have the ability to answer truthfully at all times while maintaining decorum.

beth's and I have had these going on six years: http://www.chinese-word.com/data/0026-7.html . Everyone who's ever asked, including parents, relatives and anyone else has gotten an honest answer. As with the words husband, wife, spouse, life-partner; all have more than one dictionary definition. You can use whatever one is appropriate to the inquirer.

beth has hers exposed constantly . she has responded by answering anything from the direct-slave, to the more subtle - committed partner; to the basic - servant. her tattoo is something she is proud to wear. As proud as she is when answering a just as intrusive question, especially when we attend business functions; "So beth, and what do you do?" her answer every time pointing to me; "I serve him and try to keep him happy." It's funny to hear the comments and/or see the different reactions; especially between the other couples. Details? I think a request for them should be treated with the same deserving sarcasm as those who would be socially ignorant to ask a similarly invasive question to press beth on her 'career' response by asking; "well how much to you make?"

The questions and comments regarding the tattoos are easier when together. Giving generalities we say the characters represents our primary relationship dynamic commitment; me in charge and supporting the piratical. beth the 'domestic goddess' that she is; maintaining house, home, and my needs. However, the ongoing conversation and discussion gets much more interesting when we just share the basic 'slave' 'Master' representation.

Frankly those asking learn no more than they would when they hear her introduced as my spouse. To learn exactly what that label represents you have to know a lot more about them than what you'll determine by looking at the dictionary definitionS of marriage or spouse.

Appreciating you are in the research stage, make sure you include some self research too. Whatever you decide, in whatever language or form; if you are planning to represent your relationship and commitment to it by a mark considered permanent on your body - be proud of it, and what it represents to YOU and your partner, or don't do it at all.

Good luck!

(in reply to slaveforsure)

Profile

Post #: 57

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 10:41:06 AM

badlilthang

Posts: 357
Joined: 6/22/2006
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

This is exactly the same word that, as I've said a few times now, has all the wrong connotations.

I give up. If you want to write 奴隸 on your body, go ahead. Americans will be like Wow I can't read that so it must be very meaningful. Asians will be like OK they couldn't figure out a better way to say "slave."

quote:

ORIGINAL: badlilthang

http://www.stockkanji.com/Words/Slave+(dorei).htm

this is japanese, though...s...dorei (slave).....

This Japanese word translates also as "servant" and is composed of the kanji (read as "do") meaning "slave; servant" and (read as "rei") also meaning "slave; servant".

**hey...i did not say i wanted this tattooed on my body..*L*...i just offered yet another explanation..i have 3 flowers on my lower left belly - they mean something to me - and no one else sees them unless i am naked...*L*...will get a lower back one also - but not something foreign i am not sure of the meaning off..but something that means something to me personally. After all - it is my body...s...***

< Message edited by badlilthang -- 11/26/2008 10:43:42 AM >

_____________________________

.Forgiveness is the fragrance a flower leaves in the air after being crushed underfoot.

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Profile

Post #: 58

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 1:09:16 PM

Alighierisquest

Posts: 58
Joined: 6/16/2007
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

Of course you can Google words and phrases in Chinese and Japanese. Most Americans just aren't able to understand the results.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Alighierisquest

I suspect the appeal of kanji and similar systems is people want something that looks neat and that they have plausible deniability about it's meaning. You can't even Google a "symbol" so the average person can't find out what it means.

True but how do you plug in a Chinese character you have only seen into a search engine? You'd have to take a picture, scan or enter it into the computer, and then plug it into some image recognition software. Either that or you have to go to a database with thousands of characters and search through one that looks like it. There is a lot that can go wrong in this process and to get a really good picture you practically have to have the person with the tattoos cooperation, and in that case they might as well tell you what it means.

_____________________________

"Buying the right computer and getting it to work properly is no more complicated than building a nuclear reactor from wristwatch parts in a darkened room using only your teeth. "
Dave Barry

(in reply to Lordandmaster)

Profile

Post #: 59

RE: Chinese Symbol for Slave - 11/26/2008 1:43:42 PM

Lordandmaster

Posts: 10943
Joined: 6/22/2004
Status: offline

If you see the character you want in a machine font of any kind, you can just copy and paste it as you would a character in any other font. For example, you can copy this--奴隸--and paste it into Google. Et voila, you'll have several million hits (in both Chinese and Japanese), especially since this particular term (nuli, dorei, etc.) is important in Marxist discourse.

If you see a character that's NOT encoded in a machine font, well, then you have to know what you're doing or consult someone else who does. It's possible to input Chinese, Japanese, Korean (and these days virtually every other written language) into your computer, but the input systems vary and obviously you have to know the language in question.

There are dozens of Chinese and Japanese fonts, by the way, which you can easily use in conjunction with your word processor. Some are quite artistic. So when you find the Chinese word or phrase you want, you can play around with the various available fonts, blow up one you particularly like, and bring a printout to the tattoo parlor.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Alighierisquest

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lordandmaster

Of course you can Google words and phrases in Chinese and Japanese. Most Americans just aren't able to understand the results.

True but how do you plug in a Chinese character you have only seen into a search engine? You'd have to take a picture, scan or enter it into the computer, and then plug it into some image recognition software. Either that or you have to go to a database with thousands of characters and search through one that looks like it. There is a lot that can go wrong in this process and to get a really good picture you practically have to have the person with the tattoos cooperation, and in that case they might as well tell you what it means.