Monday, October 5, 2009

Purely Mistranslated

"Worship" is not an easy word to translate, there is a certain gap in meaning between English and Hebrew that pretty much guarantees that you'll end up with something wonky. Your translation could end up as "Job" or "Ritual" or many other things that are not quite right.

Still, try as I might, I can't understand how this one came to be:

See, it's supposed to say "Worship" in Hebrew, but in reality it says "Pure" .

Not a very manly tattoo, but not such a bad thing either. It's more of an oddity. I've no idea how anyone managed to connect this word with "Worship".

Now, this is my translation of "Worship", it literally means "God's Worship". When it comes to Hebrew, you want to spell out exactly who it is that you're worshiping.

4 comments:

סלע גרשוניDec 3, 2009 08:30 AM
another problem here is the shape of the "tet" - it is mor of an "ayin".
still, a mistake that can be saved.
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amosDec 20, 2009 09:35 AM
it clearly sais "tahor" - pure.
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LeeorVJan 5, 2010 03:55 PM
I would've used "Sgida" as a suggested translation, it's a much more practical translation (or you can use "lisgod")
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acespotJul 6, 2011 08:58 PM
It was probably intended as Avod, and the Ayin kinda sorta became a Tet - you have to admit, that's a very "tetty" looking Ayin; The vet's foot somehow got partially omitted to become a heh; and the dalet became a resh - which obviously happens all the time.
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