i pay every stupid mistake :) Help me to fix my tattoo!

[Elena Getzels]

Hi!

Few years ago i wanted to make a tattoo witch have those 3 words: Faith, Act, Love

the meaning behind is simple : believe in what ever you believe - do what you believe in - and love what you're doing.

so i wrote this : 

信

做

爱

 

lately i discovered that "做爱" means "sex" , so the meaning of my tattoo is believe in having sex 

a friend helped me to find a way to avoid that translation, and she offered this:

相信

做到

爱

 

does it help? or even that way i still have the old meaning?

 

appreciate your help!!

[Tiana]

I'm sorry for you but have to say that the suggested remedy doesn't look very convincing

I'd turn the whole thing out as a laugh (and also a conversation starter):

 

相

信

做

爱

 

 

What I mean by the above configuration is to add 相 to the top and the winking smiley to the bottom of what is already there (meaning: "(I) believe in love-making"). I think this would make people laugh and those who know will know that you know   

[anonymoose]

Just have it removed completely.

[Shelley]

Agree wholeheartedly with anonymoose, remove it completely.

[Tiana]

Removing is a good suggestion but may not be an easy option for some people.

[Shelley]

If it can't be removed, cover it with something else.

[Elena Getzels]

Wow, didn't expect unanimously sugestion to remove it. I keep that option in mind, but i really like the tattoo and stil have a hope to save it what if i make a cover (kind of tribal shape ) only on the "做" , what would be the neaning?

Tiana, thanks for the sugestion, i see what you mean, but what is the meaning of the whole sentence if i add "相"?

Thank you all for the replay!

[Shelley]

The phrase "you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear" comes to mind, trying to fix it might just make it worse.

[Elena Getzels]

Shelley, i totally agree with you. i don't want to make it worse,that's why i'm asking you guys before tattooing it more.

Let's say i cover the middle word, would it be just "faith" and "love"?

[Lu]

what if i make a cover (kind of tribal shape) only on the "做" , what would be the meaning?

It would still mean 'believe make love' except with a swirly picture around it. Maori symbols don't change the meaning of Chinese characters. If you'd cover up 做 completely, it would say 'faith love'. That would improve the meaning, but it would still look rather cliche, Chinese characters and a tribal.

Removing it is not a bad idea, but from what I know that's usually painful, expensive and only partly succesfull, so it might not be a feasible solution for you.

[Elena Getzels]

Hi Lu! Yes i meant to cover it completely, to "destroy" the word.

Well i don't afraid of the cliche a lot of people have a Chinese tattoo. My choice to use Chinese letters is a cliche, but i'm not looking for being unique. I just love the way the language looks.

To bad for me i'll lose the meaning i looked for, but to have "faith" and "love" written on me is better than what i have right now

[skylee]

Re #7. Consider removing or replacing the character in the middle (I don't know if it is possible) with 望. Then the tattoo goes -

信

望

愛

It means faith, hope, love, as in the teaching of the Bible.

The friend's suggestion at #1 is no good.

[gato]

It's a funny mistake.

Covering over the middle character is probably the best solution if removal is not practical or desirable.

[Kenny同志]

How about adding 不, 勿 or 深 in the front? OK, I am just joking. I agree with gato that covering over/removing the second character is probably the best solution.

[langxia]

You could start a new religion where the god is called "to have sex"

[Elena Getzels]

Langxia your solution is the best!! JK 

 

If i won't find a nice way to cover it , i'll remove the middle character or may be the whole tattoo.

 

thak you all !!! <3

[Altair]

If covering up or removing the tattoos is not practical, would it not be possible to follow the original poster's suggestion to expand the tattoo, but while choosing better second characters?

 

What about:

 

信服

做事

愛好

?

 

Could these words partially capture: "Conviction, handling matters, and taking pleasure in it (or desiring to do it well)"?  Alternatively, could he legitimately assert that he has tried to translate: "Be convinced. Handle it. And Enjoy it."?

[Demonic_Duck]

How about something like:

 

信仰

做人

爱情

 

Faith (normally in the religious sense)

Integrity (conducting oneself properly)

[Romantic] Love

 

I'm not sure how well the three words go together, but it'd be one way of fixing it.

[Kenny同志]

This is a very good solution to me.

[deathtrap]

Leave it as is and own it!