I had been admiring the tattoo on one of my fellow long distance commuters for quite a number of rides. I had never gotten a good look at it because she was usually sitting quite far away. I did sit next to her once, but I couldn’t see the tattoo as it was on the hand farthest away from me. I hadn’t talked to her on that occasion because:
- she was absorbed in her phone
- her Luis Vuiton handbag brought up a lot of red flags and nurtured my inferiority complex
- her attractiveness made her seem a bit out of my league
- all of the above.
Today, perhaps fuelled by a horoscope that encouraged recklessness, I managed to have a conversation about her tattoo and its significance. Needless to say, all the assumptions I made about the woman (ethnicity, friendliness etc) were completely wrong. She was quite friendly and explained her tattoo quite calmly and authoritatively.
What was it??
I had thought that it was the Japanese hiragana character for “te”, which led me to think she might be Japanese–the Louis Vuitton handbag might also have been part of this equation.
It seemed a little odd, (te, can mean hand…but who would put a tattoo of “hand” on their hand?) so I dismissed most of that theory.
She explained that it was a dialect of Arabic and that it meant “be”. I am a little unsure of writing having a dialect, and have concluded that it was more about cursive style of writing, or ways of writing a character.
If I see her again, I will ask her if I can take a photo.
I’d be interested to see a pic of the tattoo. You’re right about the dialect aspect. There are two forms of Arabic—classical and colloquial. The alphabet is the same for both. Classical is the same throughout the Arab world, and is based on the vocabulary and grammar in the Koran. Newspapers, most books and news programs are delivered in classical. Colloquial is the everyday spoken language of a particular country or region. Essentially a language of the street.
I’m always curious about people’s ink — but always afraid to ask. I commend your courage, Anthony!
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