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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.
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#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.
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#2
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.
#3
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.
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.
“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
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.
#5
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".
#6
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.
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
"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.
Luke Branwen 4 months ago
What if the judge was God, taking a human form to f#ck up rapists? 😁
#8
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.
#9
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.
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
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.
#11
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).
#12
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.
zububonsai 4 months ago (edited)
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 ✌🏻.
#13
Saw a girl with 魚 tattooed on her shoulder who swore up and down it meant poison... It means fish.
#14
“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.
Haute Momma 4 months ago
The others may have caught it, but, like the poster, didn't have the heart
#15
My neighbor tattooed a ruler on his arm, but it’s not to scale.
#16
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.
WonderWoman 4 months ago
That is actually smart, she has a running list of potential baby daddies or std spreaders.
#17
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.
#18
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.
"Disembodied voice" 4 months ago
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.
CP 4 months ago
Why do tattoo artists do this? It seems like a theme with foreign words. Why not just simply tattoo what they ask. We laugh at these people, but we should be shaming the tattoo artist.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 4 months ago
It could be something that got lost in translation (if the tattoo artist did not speak English well) or it could be that the character for "family" is SIMILAR to the one for "handbag". (I did a Google Translate test, not sure how accurate it is, but it looks like there ARE some similar characters between the two words, especially the second and third characters?) However, I agree, if the tattoo artist did this on PURPOSE, that is abhorrent. They can mock the tourists all they want afterwards, but if the tourist asks for the word "Family" or "Courage", tattooing the word for "bull testicles" is just cruel (and possibly illegal, I'm not sure.) handbag_fa...06a666.jpg 
Castles 4 months ago (edited)
My ex wanted Chinese symbols on the inside of his arm and had printed off what he was after (I can’t remember what the phrase was). He decided to take it around different Chinese restaurants and every one gave him a different answer. He ended up just leaving it and getting some phrase about Family instead…. In English
Heather Atwood 3 months ago
lol my son got "Fear No Evil" in Japanese on his arm and I made him check it multiple places to be sure it didn't say something like "I have a small penis" :)
MagicJacket 4 months ago
Isabel: "He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us." Your tattoos -- that's what they say. Jack Shephard: That's what they say. It's not what they mean. LOST season 3, episode 9 "Stranger in a Strange Land."
deletemyaccount 4 months ago
I got a Sak Yant tattoo in Bangkok by the push method. Most painful tattoo I've ever had. The artist I went to had a 6 month waiting list.
#19
A librarian with "Due Date" tattooed on her wrist.
#20
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.
#22
Met a girl who has a tramp stamp that says "Only God Can Juge Me". Apparently her God can't spell.
#24
Chick I know debated between her own name and her kids name on her forearm, she chose her own name.
#25
I have my own feet tattooed “L” and “R” for left and right.
#26
Colleague walked into work last Monday with "England European champions 2024" tattooed on his leg.
#27
Saw a crossword puzzle tattoo, but the clues didn't match the answers.
#28
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.
#29
An arrow pointed at his shoulder that was labeled “cry here.”.
Reed Eculus 4 months ago
Should have one on the other shoulder that reads "cry there" with an arrow pointing to the other shoulder.
#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.
#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.
#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.
Luke Branwen 4 months ago
Ok, I may get downvoted to hell, but I say based AF. Dude challenged the american obsession with "freedom of speech".
#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.
Luke Branwen 4 months ago
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."
#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.
Huddo's sister 4 months ago
I doubt the move was because of the tattoo, I guess just an extra 'fun fact'?
#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.
Joanne Mendonza-Earle 4 months ago
I used to see a lot of people with that horrible tacky 'flash' art that they pick off the wall in the tattoo place.
#40
Met someone with "Made in USA" and a barcode underneath.
What do you think ?
BookFanatic 4 months ago
Right before my mom passed, she said she wanted a tattoo. I asked her what she wanted and she said she wanted a naked mermaid holding a beer tattooed on her a*s. She was high as a kite on morphine at the time so I'm not sure how serious she was. I'm tempted to get it though.
Crouching hippo hidden panda 4 months ago
That’s adorable, a fun memory out of a horrible time. I’m sorry for your loss
Load More Replies...
CP 4 months ago
I just think it is pretty crappy for native speakers to put, seemingly on purpose, the wrong worded tattoo on person. Eff those people!
Crouching hippo hidden panda 4 months ago
Only one I saw and applauded was the one where the guy wanted “lover of Asian beauty” or something and instead got “foreign pervert”
Load More Replies...
PFD 4 months ago
A writer I like talked about how he treasured all his tattoos, including the trashy, bad ones from times when his life went off the rails or when he was young, dumb and making bad decisions. Each was a reminder of who he was at some point in his life and he valued all of them because they represent the path his life took to who and where he is today, and new tattoos would continue to tell that story. I have great respect for that attitude. I don't have a single tattoo though!
Maisey Myles 4 months ago
TIL - If you’re going to get a tattoo, ask the artist if they know how to spell
Gavin Johnson 4 months ago
If you request any sort of lettering, logical or not, then you write it out clearly on a form, the tattooist will get you to double check that you think it is correct, then you’ll sign the form to state that you are happy with the wording / spelling. It’s your responsibility not the tattooists. A kind / sensible tattooist may suggest that you use an online dictionary to check your choices if they believe you’ve made an error but the buck stops with you. Obviously shoddy tattooists don’t care or get you to sign anything.
Load More Replies...
Ellinor 4 months ago (edited)
Not every tattoo needs to have a deep meaning. I had my first tattoo at 18 at a party (not a wild drunk party but a bunch of people here to play Loto and chill) and there was a couple artists with their flash design. I saw a bee, found it cool, and got it tattooed. No meaning, I don't particularly like bees more than other animals, it was just there and cute.
highwaycrossingfrog 4 months ago
Kinda dumb, but also funny, and definitely had some thought put in - most memorable tattoo I've seen was on holiday in Madeira, a middle-aged balding guy had a tattoo of a man pushing a lawnmower around his bald spot
ylloPytterP 4 months ago (edited)
My ex brother-in-law made a tattoo at 18, just to annoy his dad. A mix of a rat and a man, with an electric guitar, wearing punk clothes with an "A" for "Anarchy"... kinda ugly and very badly done. Since, he has worked in finance, insurance, dealing with politics. So punk attitude !
Justin Tyme 4 months ago
I used to work with a guy with a Chinese language tattoo. He thought it said "Surf Master". It said "Wet Pants".
SoMrHarris 4 months ago
I knew a guy who had his address tattooed on his arm, in the Algerian font off Microsoft Word. Like, that's one of the first fonts you see when you open the font selection box. It looked awful, and no idea why he got his address.
Blah Blah Blah 4 months ago
Met a bloke with "Blah Blah Blah" that wraps around their calf in a font that's hard to read so you've got to ask. Pretty genius if you ask me.
Blah Blah Blah 4 months ago (edited)
And yes I did jack it for my username
Load More Replies... Captain Awesome 4 months ago
I knew someone in high school who got a badly done tattoo of a naked woman pleasuring herself riding a bull on their shoulder.
CelestialRose 4 months ago
I have a tattoo on my ankle of a little t-rex with a round stomach. I've had people tell me he looks pregnant. I always tell them he's just jolly. But I love it because it reminds me of my younger brothers when they were little so no regrets there.
Tobias Reaper 4 months ago (edited)
i once saw a bald dude in a black suit with a red tie with a tattoo of a barcode on the back of his head trying to sneak into a building
SoMrHarris 4 months ago
In Year 11 of secondary school (UK, age 15), a then friend gave himself the worst stick-and-poke tattoo using a maths compass and blue biro ink. It was massive as well
BookFanatic 4 months ago
Right before my mom passed, she said she wanted a tattoo. I asked her what she wanted and she said she wanted a naked mermaid holding a beer tattooed on her a*s. She was high as a kite on morphine at the time so I'm not sure how serious she was. I'm tempted to get it though.
Crouching hippo hidden panda 4 months ago
That’s adorable, a fun memory out of a horrible time. I’m sorry for your loss
Load More Replies... CP 4 months ago
I just think it is pretty crappy for native speakers to put, seemingly on purpose, the wrong worded tattoo on person. Eff those people!
Crouching hippo hidden panda 4 months ago
Only one I saw and applauded was the one where the guy wanted “lover of Asian beauty” or something and instead got “foreign pervert”
Load More Replies... PFD 4 months ago
A writer I like talked about how he treasured all his tattoos, including the trashy, bad ones from times when his life went off the rails or when he was young, dumb and making bad decisions. Each was a reminder of who he was at some point in his life and he valued all of them because they represent the path his life took to who and where he is today, and new tattoos would continue to tell that story. I have great respect for that attitude. I don't have a single tattoo though!
Maisey Myles 4 months ago
TIL - If you’re going to get a tattoo, ask the artist if they know how to spell
Gavin Johnson 4 months ago
If you request any sort of lettering, logical or not, then you write it out clearly on a form, the tattooist will get you to double check that you think it is correct, then you’ll sign the form to state that you are happy with the wording / spelling. It’s your responsibility not the tattooists. A kind / sensible tattooist may suggest that you use an online dictionary to check your choices if they believe you’ve made an error but the buck stops with you. Obviously shoddy tattooists don’t care or get you to sign anything.
Load More Replies... Ellinor 4 months ago (edited)
Not every tattoo needs to have a deep meaning. I had my first tattoo at 18 at a party (not a wild drunk party but a bunch of people here to play Loto and chill) and there was a couple artists with their flash design. I saw a bee, found it cool, and got it tattooed. No meaning, I don't particularly like bees more than other animals, it was just there and cute.
highwaycrossingfrog 4 months ago
Kinda dumb, but also funny, and definitely had some thought put in - most memorable tattoo I've seen was on holiday in Madeira, a middle-aged balding guy had a tattoo of a man pushing a lawnmower around his bald spot
ylloPytterP 4 months ago (edited)
My ex brother-in-law made a tattoo at 18, just to annoy his dad. A mix of a rat and a man, with an electric guitar, wearing punk clothes with an "A" for "Anarchy"... kinda ugly and very badly done. Since, he has worked in finance, insurance, dealing with politics. So punk attitude !
Justin Tyme 4 months ago
I used to work with a guy with a Chinese language tattoo. He thought it said "Surf Master". It said "Wet Pants".
SoMrHarris 4 months ago
I knew a guy who had his address tattooed on his arm, in the Algerian font off Microsoft Word. Like, that's one of the first fonts you see when you open the font selection box. It looked awful, and no idea why he got his address.
Blah Blah Blah 4 months ago
Met a bloke with "Blah Blah Blah" that wraps around their calf in a font that's hard to read so you've got to ask. Pretty genius if you ask me.
Blah Blah Blah 4 months ago (edited)
And yes I did jack it for my username
Load More Replies... Captain Awesome 4 months ago
I knew someone in high school who got a badly done tattoo of a naked woman pleasuring herself riding a bull on their shoulder.
CelestialRose 4 months ago
I have a tattoo on my ankle of a little t-rex with a round stomach. I've had people tell me he looks pregnant. I always tell them he's just jolly. But I love it because it reminds me of my younger brothers when they were little so no regrets there.
Tobias Reaper 4 months ago (edited)
i once saw a bald dude in a black suit with a red tie with a tattoo of a barcode on the back of his head trying to sneak into a building
SoMrHarris 4 months ago
In Year 11 of secondary school (UK, age 15), a then friend gave himself the worst stick-and-poke tattoo using a maths compass and blue biro ink. It was massive as well
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