ADVERTISEMENT

Everyone wants their tattoo to be unique, even if they don’t have a solid grasp on what it should actually look like. This often means that people will get the most bizarre things inked on their bodies without really doing their homework.
Someone asked “What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen tattooed on someone?” and netizens shared the worst examples they have encountered. We also got in touch with the person who asked the question in the first place. So get comfortable, prepare to feel some intense second-hand embarrassment as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and share your own thoughts and experiences.

#1

It’s not dumb. But it’s silly. A friend has a gluten and dairy intolerance. And they have an angry slice of Bread and an angry milk carton on them.

OkTiger8853 Report

You May Also Like:
#2

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them They had a tattoo of a compass and said “ I got it done so it’s always showing true north”. I asked, wouldn’t that change depending on what direction you’re facing? He said no true north is always the same. I tried explaining what I meant and they couldn’t understand.

w4rlok94 , Kürşad Karaağaç / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

#3

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them Anyone who gets Trump, Biden, or Harris. In any form whatsoever. (Though let's be honest, one of these is a *lot* more common than the other two.)

If you base your entire personality on a politician, you should be kept away from any place involving a needle that isn't administered by a certified medical professional.

cleon42 , Aaron Kittredge / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
eric p
Community Member
2 months ago

This comment has been deleted.

eric p
Community Member
2 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure why my comment got deleted. It said "it's not like trump supporters are exactly known for being intelligent..."

Load More Replies...
Moon
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Politics obsessed people are like astrology girls but they run countries.

Sergio Bicerra
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I get religious tattoos, like jesus on your shoulder, like it may be the basics of your moral compass and guide, but politicians?

Deborah B
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Does anyone actually get Biden or Harris? Trump, I can definately see happening.

Bored Trash Panda
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh, the trump ones definitely happen. I saw a video of a guy getting one on his calf that his trumps freaking mug shot

Load More Replies...
bElLa sTairZz
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

at the least get a political tatoo that supports a movent or ideology, not an individual person. you dont know them.

Dani
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Although oddly you're far less likely to find them at a place with a needle that is administered by a certified medical professional.

Cass Malone
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Literally only one side does this, and it's not for Biden or Harris. We aren't in a cult, unlike the tRump supporters.

Toothless Feline
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Political tattoos are pretty much always a bad idea. Even worse than Chinese characters you can’t read.

Natty Tempest
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh no! The microcips in the vaccines are making me autistic and controlling my brain! Someone tinfoil my head before the birds see me!

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

Bored Panda got in touch with the netizen who posted the question online and they were kind enough to answer some of our questions. First and foremost, we wanted to know if there was some story that prompted them to pose this question to the internet.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I was just watching a Kurtis Conner video on YouTtube and he has a lot of silly tattoos so it made me think of posting that,” they shared. After all, the internet is full of people sharing the most baffling tattoos they have ever seen, so it’s clearly a pretty popular topic. Indeed, we’ve covered it as well in the past.

#4

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them I've got 2. Both were while working in surgery.
First woman apologized for her tattoos before going under anesthesia. She's asleep, we get her positioned (it was a vaginal procedure) and right on top of her mons pubis was EAT FRESH. And yes, it was even in the Subway font.

Second, woman had lost a bunch of weight and was getting a tummy tuck. She had this weird tattoo of a s****y little cartoon cowboy on her lower abdomen/hip. By the time the surgeon had cut off all the excess skin and sewed her back up, all that was left was the hat.

_C00TER , Steffen Zahn / flickr (not the actual photo) Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#5

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them Did some training with a group of people.
One girl has a Chinese tattoo on the back of her neck.
Chinese girl in the class saw it and laughed.

Conversation came about how the wearer thought it said "Strength"
What it said was "Simplified Chinese".

Hiding_From_Stupid , Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
B Hobbs
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never get a tattoo in a language you don't understand. You may think it says "strength of the dragon" when it really says "dumb a*s gringo".

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#6

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them A local tattoo artist had a guy come in and ask for a white power tattoo. He tattooed him across his back with "white powder". Dude got ticked off. Artist was like "Sorry, I misheard you." There was a legal battle, several months long. The dude sued for the tattoo artist to pay for the removal. He refused to go get it done out of pocket so he walked around with that tattoo for 4 months and some change. He was one of those dudes that only wears wife beaters all summer, so he had to wear an actual t-shirt just to keep it covered. Was hilarious, and worth the price of removal the tattoo artist had to pay.

zorggalacticus , Klaus Nielsen / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

ADVERTISEMENT

The thread itself ended up being quite popular, so we wanted to know if they had any ideas as to why it attracted so many folks. “As for the success of the thread, I think it just aligned well with the Ask Reddit algorithm, since it was a short answer question and people love to talk about absurd things they’ve seen/experienced.”

#7

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them "Only God Can Judge Me" as we stood in court, before a judge, because he shoved his way into my apartment and SA'd me.

Looks like the judge can judge you., too, bud.

FenderMartingale , KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

#8

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them My youngest brother's girlfriend has her children's names tattooed on her. No issue with that. It's the fact that her youngest son has his name misspelled (Braidon instead of Brandon). When I asked her about it, she said she had no idea how to spell her son's name. Just... Wow.

Ohnoherewego13 , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them A couple of guys I knew at Basic Training got "Your Name" tattooed on their butt cheeks so that they could go up to random people and say "Hey, I got your name tattooed on my a*s" then pull down their pants.

Visual-Lobster6625 , Jorge Alvarez Lecaros / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Last but not least, we also wanted to hear if they had any favorite examples from the post. “My personal favorite was the girl who tattooed a nipple on her ass because I unfortunately have the sense of humor of a teenage boy,” they shared with Bored Panda. If this wasn’t enough, or you want to see some actual images of terrible tattoos, check out our other articles on the topic.

#10

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them I have a flame tattooed on the inside of my bicep, it sometimes peeks out if I move my arm away from my body a bit. If anyone asks, it's my concealed fire arm.

I also have "Don't Panic" on my back. Coincidentally, I had a panic attack and nearly passed out while getting it.

DroobyDoobyDoo , phoenixproduction / envato (not the actual photo) Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#11

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them Saw a lady at the gym once sporting music notes all over her body and the stems were on the wrong sides of the notes (I am a music teacher so it hurt my soul).

ScreenJealous3170 , hermaion / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

#12

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them When all of the Latin sayings were a big deal with my friends I got “SEMPER UBI SUB UBI” tattooed. It means always wear underwear. It’s a latin pun. It’s very dumb and frankly I don’t regret it.

Soft_Delivery_3889 , Karolina Kaboompics / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
zububonsai
Community Member
2 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But it only works/is a bit funny if you translate it into English (Literally "always where under where"➡️ ""always wear underwear"). But the main thing is that YOU like it ✌🏻.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#13

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them Saw a girl with 魚 tattooed on her shoulder who swore up and down it meant poison... It means fish.

RadiantSymphony , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

#14

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them “Love me or hate me just EXCEPT me” instead of “accept.”

Not one single person she showed afterward caught the mistake and I didn’t have the heart to point it out.

karmagill , Karolina Kaboompics / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
Haute Momma
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The others may have caught it, but, like the poster, didn't have the heart

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#16

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them When I worked at Electronics Boutique back in the 90s, there was this one redneck lady who would come in like once a month with a different redneck beau. And on her left arm she had tattooed the names dudes with the previous one crossed out -- and yep each time she came in with a new dude there was a new name.

wilkc , Image-Source / envato (not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
WonderWoman
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is actually smart, she has a running list of potential baby daddies or std spreaders.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#17

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them A man got a food company’s logo tattooed on his forehead for a cash prize, only to find out it was an April Fools’ Day prank.

NothingOk648 , Enmanuel Santos / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
David
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He sued, and they settled out of court and gave him the full cash prize because the advertisement for the April Fools prank did not state it was prank, and a judge did not buy their argument that people should assume April 1 ads are a joke. They quickly settled after that.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#18

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them My exs family all went to Thailand for a family holiday and decided to get matching tattoos. They asked for the word family in Thai. They were all so excited until they got back and a Thai friend of mine explained to them that it says Hand bag.

anon , Michael Burrows / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
"Disembodied voice"
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm fluent in Thai, this happened more often than you'd think. Especially on shirts, or it's actually in Chinese but most tourist can't spot the difference.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#20

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them Someone at work has a braille tattoo on their fore arm. it's not raised. it's just dots. You can't feel any raises. And it says "Good Vibes" in braille. Why? Because you don't see good vibes, you feel them.

der3009 , tori_christensen502 / reddit (not the actual photo) Report

#22

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them Met a girl who has a tramp stamp that says "Only God Can Juge Me". Apparently her God can't spell.

DiscardedMush , Emily_lovesmetal / reddit (not the actual photo) Report

#23

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them The virgin Mary cradling a loaf of wonderbread in her arms.

Spuzzle91 , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
Svelk929
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

ok unlike the others this one's actually kind of funny, i'd appreciate a tattoo like that even if I'd never personally get it

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#24

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them Chick I know debated between her own name and her kids name on her forearm, she chose her own name.

Prollynotafed , Image-Source / envato (not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
B Hobbs
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Terry Pratchett's Discworld stories, it is recommended that soldiers tattoo their names on their limbs and torso so that the Igor medics can reassemble the soldiers with mostly their own body parts after a battle.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#25

I have my own feet tattooed “L” and “R” for left and right.

pleasantly-dumb Report

#26

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them Colleague walked into work last Monday with "England European champions 2024" tattooed on his leg.

p4ttl1992 , Dan Thomas / bbc (not th e actual photo) Report

#27

Saw a crossword puzzle tattoo, but the clues didn't match the answers.

hpWrightCarolegy Report

#28

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them A man had a full sleeve of satanic imagery and had no clue what any of it meant he just wanted to p**s off his Christian manager.

Vexonte , YuriArcursPeopleimages / envato (not the actual photo) Report

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#29

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them An arrow pointed at his shoulder that was labeled “cry here.”.

Daigon , Antoni Shkraba / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
Reed Eculus
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Should have one on the other shoulder that reads "cry there" with an arrow pointing to the other shoulder.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#30

I saw an unfortunately unattractive guy in Vegas that had his own nearly life-size portrait tattooed on his shoulder. The tattoo looked just like the ugly MF.

neal144 Report

Add photo comments
POST
Deborah B
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hey, you don't know him, maybe it was a portrait of his identical twin.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#31

I once saw a guy with "Tattoo" tattooed in a stencil font on his bicep. It was very meta — but also a dumb joke.

Ambitious-Leopard-67 Report

#32

I had a friend in high school who got a very brightly colored burning american flag on his neck with the phrase next to it "Burn Baby, Burn!" This was in TX in the mid-90's. When he showed me after getting it, I was like, damn, bold move, man, you're gonna regret that s**t. Ran into him years later and he'd become a straight edge and a pastor. First thing I said was "well, regret that tat yet?" He just said he does indeed have to explain himself alot.

EdithWhartonsFarts Report

Add photo comments
POST
Luke Branwen
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok, I may get downvoted to hell, but I say based AF. Dude challenged the american obsession with "freedom of speech".

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#33

Guy i used to work with had the word "nothing" in arabic. So when someone asked what it says he would say nothing. It made him feel smart because he was answering them but also it seemed like he didnt to say what it said so he replied with nothing.

wood_good Report

Add photo comments
POST
Luke Branwen
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reminds me of a shopping bag I've seen somewhere online, it had a large text in Arabic on it which literally translates to "This text has no meaning and its only purpose is to scare islamophobes."

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#34

I knew a guy who lucked into $70k. Got "pay up" as knuckle tattoos, but had the "up" as a dollar sign that was also an up arrow in the middle of the S instead of just this $. So that symbol with an up arrowhead at the top.


Everybody read it as "pays up" when he showed them and he had to have the whole S covered. Now it says pay on 3 fingers and has an arrow sign almost as thick as his f*****g finger.


He had to move back in with his mom after 6 months.

Airp0w Report

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#35

"Soup of the day" tattooed on a chef’s arm.

tphbettyPatriciatei Report

#36

Saw a girl with nipples on her a*s.

bleedformemox Report

#38

Back in 1990 when tats were so not mainstream, I met a dude covered in all sorts of bad tats (bad taste and quality). The worst was Woody Woodpecker sitting on a toilet reading a newspaper. He said it was political, but I forget exactly how.

Shopping-Afraid Report

Add photo comments
POST
Joanne Mendonza-Earle
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to see a lot of people with that horrible tacky 'flash' art that they pick off the wall in the tattoo place.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#40

“Her Own Name”: 40 Tattoos That Really Did Not Have Enough Thought Put Into Them Met someone with "Made in USA" and a barcode underneath.

Sure_Combination8852 , allen watkin / l(not the actual photo) Report

Add photo comments
POST
David
Community Member
2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was a Chinese born American comedian who had a Made in China tattoo as a ethnic pride joke.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

Note: this post originally had 60 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.