New Members kevins1 Posted April 15, 2014 at 03:30 AM New Members Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 at 03:30 AM Hello. I have a friend with a tattoo and she doesn't know what it means. If anyone can translate it I would appreciate it. I'm having trouble posting the picture, but I can provide a link to photobucket. http://s72.photobucket.com/user/Rahzahm/media/characters.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0 Thanks, Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted April 15, 2014 at 03:30 PM Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 at 03:30 PM It says 雷夫 léifū. You could read it to mean something like 'thunder man', but that makes it sound a lot cooler in English than it does in Chinese. In fact this character combination doesn't have any meaning that I or my dictionaries know of, it's used as a transliteration for (parts of) names that sound like 'leif' or 'rave' or similar sounds. The calligraphy is not great, but could be worse, and it looks like the characters are written correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members kevins1 Posted April 15, 2014 at 07:39 PM Author New Members Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 at 07:39 PM Thanks for translating Lu. I will tell her it means woman of thunder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted April 15, 2014 at 08:57 PM Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 at 08:57 PM The Chinese definitely means man, not woman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted April 15, 2014 at 09:55 PM Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 at 09:55 PM It could be a transliteration of the name Ralph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members kevins1 Posted April 16, 2014 at 03:10 AM Author New Members Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 at 03:10 AM What about as a pronoun? From Wiktionary: (Classical) he, she, they, those, this, that. She of the thunder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted April 16, 2014 at 08:32 AM Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 at 08:32 AM No, sorry. 夫 means man and is used in words like 'husband' and 'macho man'. 雷 means 'thunder', but here both characters are just used for their, 'leifu'. The word 雷夫 doesn't have any meaning, it's most likely a transliteration. Does your friend's name sound like ralph/rave/leif, or her (ex-)boyfriend's name perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted April 16, 2014 at 08:45 AM Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 at 08:45 AM It's not impossible that the 夫 was meant to be a 天, perhaps? Not sure that helps any though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lingo-ling Posted April 17, 2014 at 04:42 AM Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 at 04:42 AM When I saw it, I immediately thought "Leif". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members kevins1 Posted April 17, 2014 at 05:34 PM Author New Members Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 at 05:34 PM Her name is Lara. Not sure about any ex-boyfriends but she does have an ex-girlfriend who is Asian. That wouldn't be my first guess since she doesn't know what it means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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