Hebrew Inked Celebs: Doda Elektroda

Today's tattoo was sent to us by Dariusz from Poland, who spotted this prime example of bad Hebrew tattoo on the Polish pop singer Doda Elektroda.

As you can see, Doda and her husband Radek got matching Hebrew tattoos. Radek's tattoo correctly says "Dorota", which is Doda's real name. The tattoo on Doda's arm, however, was supposed to say "I love Radek". Instead, it says "To love a Radek". Grammar fail!

As often happens, tattoos last longer than love, and this couple was soon divorced. Doda regretted her Hebrew folly but didn't learn a lesson regarding foreign tattoos. She promptly covered the Hebrew tattoo with another one, this time in Sanskrit.

I wonder if her Sanskrit tattoo is correct?

Tattoo Goo Tattoo Aftercare Kit, 3 Piece Set Everything you need to keep your new ink vibrant and clean. Check Price on Amazon

Hebrew Inked Celebs: Christina Aguilera

The pop singer Christina Aguilera followed the hottest trend by getting her very own Hebrew tattoo:


And like many others who follow this particular trend, her Hebrew tattoo is a bad one.

Christina was going for the initials of her husband, Jordan Bratman, so her tattoo is supposed to say JB. Unfortunately, when you look at it, you just see the number 12 (like in 12th grade), as that's what this letter combination means in Hebrew.

See, biblical Hebrew doesn't have the letter J, and whoever advised Christina was probably unaware of the modern alternative, and used the letter Yod instead. You don't need to be a Hebrew linguist to realize that a letter named Yod doesn't sound much like the J in Jordan.

The second, and bigger, problem is that in Hebrew you don't just write initials as a bunch of letters. For Hebrew initials and acronyms you use a special punctuation mark called Gershayim (and looks like double quotes), before the last letter. When writing foreign initials, you just spell out the letters fully.

As for JB, the best way is definitely to spell it out (Jay.Bee), using the modern spelling of J (Gimel with Geresh). This is what Christina Aguilera should have gotten:

Tattoo Goo Tattoo Aftercare Kit, 3 Piece Set Everything you need to keep your new ink vibrant and clean. Check Price on Amazon

Hebrew Inked Celebs: Genesis P-Orridge

Today we have Genesis P-Orridge in our celebrity corner. An English performer, musician, writer and artist, P-Orridge is a founder of the music group Psychic TV, and that was what he had meant to tattoo in Hebrew on his arm. "Psychic TV" that is.

P-Orridge's Hebrew tattoo was photographed and submitted to BHT by Daniel:


As you can see, this tattoo is a brave attempt, but it doesn't quite work as intended. It roughly says "Psekakh Tav" Psekakh is just gibberish, though Tav actually has a meaning in Hebrew, it means "note".

When you want to transcribe a name, such as "Psychic TV", you have to pay attention to how it's pronounced. This is why in Hebrew "psychic" loses its P while the Y is expressed, and the letters of TV are written fully. The result is this:


Yep, if Psychic TV is your favorite band, now you know how to write its name for your very own Hebrew tattoo!

Tattoo Goo Tattoo Aftercare Kit, 3 Piece Set Everything you need to keep your new ink vibrant and clean. Check Price on Amazon

Hebrew Inked Celebs: Danielle Lloyd

Danielle Lloyd, an English model, participant of Celebrity Big Brother 2007 and professional "celebrity for hire", got herself a very unfortunate Hebrew tattoo back in 2008.


It's the one right below her neck. Let's see a closeup:


Lloyd's tattoo is supposed to say "Only God can judge me, only God can judge me".

I guess her choice of Hebrew tattoo makes sense, as the name Danielle literally means "God is my judge" in Hebrew. Also, she's being judged by the public all the time.

This tattoo, however, ended up a wreck. Instead of a translation, it's a transliteration, and very badly done too. Using Hebrew letters, it says something along the lines of: "only god ken g'odg m, only god khen g'odg m". Never do a transliteration tattoo, it's the worst idea ever!.

Now, if you wanted a proper Hebrew tattoo saying "Only God can judge me", this is how you do it:


There are actually many different ways to write that sentence correctly, as it's a long and complex one. Judging God is a popular theme in Hebrew tattoos, and there are quite a few correct ones walking around, you can Google to find them!

Tattoo Goo Tattoo Aftercare Kit, 3 Piece Set Everything you need to keep your new ink vibrant and clean. Check Price on Amazon

Hebrew Inked Celebs: David Beckham

David Beckham, the celebrity football player and bearer of several multi-language tattoos, got a Hebrew tattoo to display his love of his wife Victoria. Or did he?


This tattoo is a correct rendition of a bible verse Song of Solomon 6:3, it says "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. He browses among the lilies".

Does something seems amiss? You bet. This tattoo speaks of a girl's love to her male beloved. It unmistakeably refers to a man. The bad Hebrew tattoo strikes again.

Guys (the straight ones), do keep away from this verse!

Tattoo Goo Tattoo Aftercare Kit, 3 Piece Set Everything you need to keep your new ink vibrant and clean. Check Price on Amazon