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Chinese Character Tattoos: Lost in Translation

A tattoo that's supposed to read 'bad boy' in Chinese, but the last two letters have been reversed. Enlarge image i

A reader e-mailed Tang this photo of a friend's tattoo. It's supposed to read "bad boy" in Chinese, except the order of last two characters has been reversed.

Courtesy Tian Tang
A tattoo that's supposed to read 'bad boy' in Chinese, but the last two letters have been reversed.

A reader e-mailed Tang this photo of a friend's tattoo. It's supposed to read "bad boy" in Chinese, except the order of last two characters has been reversed.

Courtesy Tian Tang

Robert Siegel talks with Tian Tang, author of a Web site dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in Western culture. Tang posts photos of Chinese character tattoos that either contain errors or carry no meaning.

Tang says as a Chinese American, he felt it was his "duty and honor to educate the public about the misusage of Chinese characters."

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