ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Guy Gets Chinese Symbols Tattooed On His Arm With Hilarious Meaning

Guy Gets Chinese Symbols Tattooed On His Arm With Hilarious Meaning

Well, it's certainly different.

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

Getting a tattoo is a big decision, for some it takes hours of thought and research, for others, it involves Ouzo and their mate's brother who bought a tattoo gun off eBay. Both can lead to regrets, to be fair.

When Cody Williams realised he wanted a tattoo he gave a lot of thought to the matter, knowing that once it's there it's pretty permanent. After doing some thinking he opted for some Chinese symbols down his arm and he knew the exact phrase that he wanted, here it is:

Credit: Cody Williams

What does it mean? I hear you all ask."I do not know, I do not speak Chinese." Yep, that's what that actually says right there on his arm.

Cody told LADbible: "I'd always liked the way Chinese symbols look, but hate that everyone always gets generic meanings tattooed like 'love', 'hope', 'courage' and stuff like that which gets old.

"I also knew I'd constantly have a lot of people asking me what my tattoo said if I decided to get Chinese symbols on me and thought of this as a clever way to mess with almost everyone I meet and give us both a good laugh."

But Cody knew about the dangers of getting a tattoo in a language he doesn't speak, so he did his research - got two different interpretations and took them to his colleague who was fluent. Maybe unsurprisingly, his colleague wanted to know why he wanted to know, when he told her she couldn't stop laughing before telling him to go for the second translation because it was 'was more traditional and would look fancier'.

Cody has since had some colour added to the tattoo. Credit: Cody Williams

As you can imagine, people's reactions to the tattoo usually follow the same pattern.

Explaining how it goes, Cody tells me: "I'm asked, "What's your tattoo say?"

"I reply,"I don't know, I don't speak Chinese."

"They ask, "You don't know what it says?!"

"I reply, "No, I know what it says."

"And then they ask, "Well then what does it say?"

"I'll answer, "I don't know, I don't speak Chinese." This generally goes back and forth till they either get it, or get frustrated and give up in which case I generally take pity on them and explain."

Credit: Cody Williams

It's a slightly different reaction when he bumps into someone who can read it for themselves. "They tell me how much they love it and ask for a picture."

So, the big question: does he regret it? Nah.

"I got this three years ago, when I was 19, and I still love.

"I can even picture myself as a grandfather being asked what my tattoo says and telling my grandchildren, "I don't know, I don't speak Chinese." and never explaining it to them as they get older."

Yeah, it is pretty much the ultimate dad joke, etched forever on his arm.

Featured Image Credit: Cody Williams

Topics: Funny, Tattoo