The Wonky Love Triangle

Today's victim went for the ever popular "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine", from Solomon's Song of Songs. You know, just like David Beckham...


We've already established in Beckham's case that this expression is unsuitable for guys, as it speaks of a male lover. But this guy went even further - he managed to misspell it terribly.

There are three incorrect letters in this tattoo, the first establishes a love triangle between his father, his male beloved and himself. The other two, mercifully, render this tattoo almost incomprehensible.

Really! This is pretty much the most common Hebrew tattoo phrase. It can be Googled-up in a second. How on earth can you get it wrong?

This is how "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" should be properly written in Hebrew:


Remember, in Hebrew lettering every stroke counts, and many letters look similar. If two letters appear just a little bit different, there's a good chance they are actually two different letters.

13 comments:

  1. Oh, it all maketh sense, T-t. His State gov't overturned the same-sex marriage laws, so he gave his lover to his dad, just 'on paper'. But then he fell in love with 'Zadoodie', their hair-dresser, who insisted on a tattoo as a sign of seriousness.
    Moral: 'There but for fortune go us, 'has ve'halil'
    But you are correct: there are now enough mistaken 'Dod's and Dodi's to form an entire 'G'dud' (an army regiment'), all marching backwards and/or upside-down. When will it end?

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  2. You're right about the "Dodi" Gdud, that's for sure. As a matter of fact, I have at least three other bad "Dodi" tattoos in the waiting queue. None as bad as this one, but still.

    It is a never-ending tragedy.

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  3. You may wish to also record how a male should get this tattoo done, to be gender-correct. I believe it would be:

    אני לדודתי ודודתי לי

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  4. My biblical Hebrew isn't all that hot, so I can't say whether it'd be correct to use "Dodati" for a female beloved. I don't think it was used that way in the bible, but who knows? (In modern Hebrew it just means aunt)

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  5. An exceptionally ugly tattoo, too. Looks like a big bloody splotch on the hand.
    Makes me wish that someone would regulate tattoos to prevent people making a joke of themselves.

    Know what? I volunteer to start the Earthly Tattoos Regulation Office. Please call me for details.

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  6. This Hebrew Tattoo is a great example where some Hebrew letters, which are easily confused by beginners, caused the whole tattoo to be an embarassment. By just taking a few simple steps to learn the Hebrew Alphabet, people could spare themselves a lot of pain and frustration.

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  7. Highly relevant to this site:
    http://abstrusegoose.com/243
    http://www.myapokalips.com/show/23#comic

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  8. guest: LOL!!! Especially for the 2nd

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  9. I don't think it would be possible to use דודתי in this case.
    When my customers want it written as said about a female beloved I usually give them אני לאהובתי ואהובתי לי and if they want to have a matching tattoo with their girlfriend, then my advise is for her to have אני לאהובי ואהובי לי as well.
    I really can't wait for this Beckham trend to end.

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  10. Incidentally, the curvy thing in the middle is a representation of the Roman Catholic ‘Holy Trinity’, ie father, son, holy spirit, influenced from Irish catholic tradition. I guess on top of the kitchy Hebrew there is kitchy Irish appropriations.

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  11. It looks like "avi l'dodi" My father is to my beloved. Ewww.

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  12. Av l'dizdi. Fo shizzle.

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  13. It can also refer to a very attached family - "my father is my uncle's and my uncle is mine" (still misspelled). Anyway, דודתי really doesn't work.
    באופן כללי יש בעיה עם הפסוק הזה, כי "דודי" זה גם אהובי, גם הדוד שלי וגם שם חיבה לדויד. מצד שני, זה לא יפה לעוות פסוק מקראי כדי להתאים את זה מגדרית וכיוצא בזאת.
    הקיצר, שיבחרו פסוק אחר.

    ReplyDelete

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