Getting a tattoo is a big commitment. Unless you’re prepared to go through the pain of regret, embarrassment, laser removal, or a second cover-up tattoo, it’s wise to think carefully before having anything inked on your skin. If you’re considering having foreign words tattooed on your body, we can’t stress enough how important it is to make sure you know exactly what they mean.

One woman learned the hard way, when she went for her first-ever tattoo. She’d chosen an inspirational quote, written in Arabic. Or so she thought. To her horror, she soon discovered the tattoo “translates into something awful”. The woman’s tattoo artist shared online how they agreed to do a cover-up for the client. But they’re conflicted about whether or not to charge, since the mistake wasn’t entirely their fault. Bored Panda reached out to the artist and asked them to share more details. We also spoke to psychotherapist Dr. Anna Mathur to see if she has any advice for the tattoo artist.

The client was excited to get inked for the first time ever, and figured she’d go with a popular design she’d found online

Image credits: Getty Images (not the actual photo)

What was supposed to be a work of body art turned into an embarrassing disaster, once the client found out what their tattoo really meant

Image credits: @kawrage (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Sinitta Leunen (not the actual photo)

Image source: zzalmoxiss

“I’m rotten”: artist reveals the real meaning of the tattoo

Image credits: Getty Images (not the actual photo)

Bored Panda wanted to know a bit more about the tattoo in question, so we asked the artist. “It was actually a meme from 2016 that went viral at that time on Tumblr, and people started getting it tattooed being clueless about its origin, just like us. The format is so Pinterest-like that I thought it was just another inspirational quote,” she said. Both the client and the artist believed it meant “appreciate life”.

Still curious about the “gross” and “awful” tattoo, we asked what the Arabic quote actually translates to. “The tattoo actually spelled ‘I’m rotten’. After further research I’ve sadly seen so many pics of people online with this tattooed on them as well,” the artist told Bored Panda.

The tattoo artist told us they’d made a final decision not to charge the client at all. “I considered the comments saying that I should only charge her for my supplies. But because of poor communication, I figured out that my offer unintentionally came across as free through text,” she said.

She explained that she’d offered to work on a cover-up for the client but had not mentioned a price soon enough afterwards. And felt it got too late to bring up the cost. The artist added that she also realized her role in the blunder. “I did not have her sign a waiver ensuring that I am not responsible for stuff like this, which was my mistake,” she said.

“There’s a difference between legal responsibility and a sense of ethical responsibility”: expert weighs in

Image credits: Kaizen Nguyễn (not the actual photo)

Anna Mathur is a psychotherapist and author. She kindly agreed to give us her take on the situation. We explained that the artist is dealing with feelings of guilt, and feels that they’re at fault. Bored Panda asked Mathur what advice she has for the artist.

“The tattooist is fairly new to the job and these learnings often come about through making mistakes or hearing stories where others have made certain mistakes. If a design is approved by the client, then it’s truly the client’s responsibility to ensure they’re confident with what they’re asking for,” said the expert.

Mathur added that the tattooist should ask themselves whether they’ve done anything wrong when it comes to best practice. “There’s a difference between legal responsibility and a sense of ethical responsibility. The artist may agree to go half and half because she feels a sense of responsibility.”

“It truly is a grey area,” said Mathur. “Which is why it sparked such response. Everyone is viewing the scenario through their own lenses of understanding and morals. The ‘right thing’ to do is to act in a way that honours your values, and respects the other person, rather than acting on something because you feel you ’should’.”

“Sometimes we need to proactively choose to let go of guilt once things have been resolved,” advised Mathur. “We learn through our own mistakes and shortfalls, and that experience will only work to make her a more scrupulous tattooer.”

In a plot twist, the client decided to keep the tattoo after all, and here’s why…

The artist said she was ready for the appointment and had made peace with not charging. But two days before the client was due to come in, they texted saying they want to cancel. “Her reasoning was that the original tattoo is charming in its own way and that it is a valuable memory for her,” the artist told Bored Panda.

But it turns out that might not have been the real reason. “Later on, I found out from shared connections that she was actually not prepared for the pain that comes along with a tattoo once again, which is totally valid,” the artist revealed. “I will admit though, that I was kinda disappointed, since I drew four cover-up designs before she agreed to one of them which was time-consuming.”

“I still feel kinda bad that this girl has to walk around with that on her body and I have a feeling of helplessness that I couldn’t fix it. But she knows best about her body and I respect her decision,” she added. “I’m glad this did not stain my career and that we ended up on good terms because reputation is everything for a starting tattoo artist.”

The tattoo artist said a few misogynists showed up in some of the comments

Image credits: Daniele La Rosa Messina (not the actual photo)

“Of course there was the usual misogyny that comes along with mentioning the ‘she’ or ‘her’. I should have used neutral pronouns,” said the artist. “There were comments that completely ignored the text, and were only talking about, and exaggerating the fact that this woman has made a poor decision. I don’t even have to explain why gender is not relevant at all here.” However, she said she wasn’t too surprised “because I, myself, am a woman.”

“What did surprise me, though, is how many people assumed I was a man!” she added. “It reminded me that even though the tattoo industry has grown a lot in inclusivity, some people still see it as a male-dominated field.”

The artist says the experience has left her scarred

Image credits: Barbara Zandoval (not the actual photo)

We asked how the experience has affected her personally. “I get war flashbacks every time someone hits me up with a tattoo request in a foreign language,” she said. “My friends who are tattoo artists as well found this event hilarious and had a good laugh about it, but I’ve always been more sensitive. So this marked me.”

The tattoo artist says she wishes she could have avoided the entire situation, but added that she’s learned some valuable lessons from the whole experience. “When you start to tattoo every day, you stop having that anxiety you used to get when you started. The crippling worrying of messing up someone’s body forever which made you extra extra careful with every single aspect. You start to miss out on things, like in this case double-checking a translation the client came in with,” she explained. “I think most of us start having that auto-pilot feeling after a while at our job. This woke me up and made me come back to the alertness I had in the beginning.”

She told Bored Panda that she’s made a few changes to how she runs her business. “I came up with waivers, with terms and conditions that every client since then has had to read and sign. This was mandatory but my mentor did not tell me apparently, and I had to find out on Reddit.”

The tattoo artist has this message for anyone wanting to get inked: “Please ‘reverse image search’ on Google, or use the Google lens on your reference pics before getting that on your body forever! Double-check everything. This is your one and only body, have some respect for it!”

Many netizens felt the tattoo artist was not to blame, and had some advice for how to avoid a similar situation in future

A few people felt both were in the wrong, and the artist had a responsibility to double-check the translation

Some people felt the tattoo artist and client could come to a reasonable compromise

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