And just like everyone else's, her Hebrew tattoo was rendered backwards.
However, this victim's spiritual mistake turned slightly unusual results. This particular reversed tattoo actually has a meaning of its own! Several meanings, even.
The intended word "Purity" is pronounced "Tohar" in Hebrew. Reversed, it can be read as "Rihut", which means "Furniture" or "Rahut" - the male form of "Fluent".
Unlucky? Sure. But at least it can be salvaged. If the girl adds the letter "He" to the left of her tattoo, she'll have the female form of "Fluent", which is a perfectly acceptable Hebrew tattoo, boasting her great linguistic skills. A tiny bit ironic maybe, but it beats adding the Hebrew word for "Garden", thus turning the tattoo into "Garden Furniture" and opening a new business.
I'm sure this girl feels lucky for this opportunity to expand her horizons or launch a brand new career. Really, it could be a lot worse.
And this is how "Purity" is correctly written in Hebrew, from right to left, the way it should be:
Haha. Typo, your gentle patient wit and charm here only becomes finer with every post. No wonder all the world loves Israelis(?). I haven't yet heard the phrase 'Rehut Goof' ('body furniture'), but that would be another suggestion to repair this darling's goof. And she does need to do something, before everyone decides to sit comfortably on her face.
ReplyDeleteYou mean, FROM RIGHT TO LEFT. LTR is what got us furniture on the first place :)
ReplyDeleteI'd say that "RAHUT" is "articulate" rather than "fluent".
ReplyDeleteBeside, even if it was "TAHOR", "TEHORA" or "REHUTA" - as a native Hebrew speaker I'd say they all seem weird for tattoo options. Don't you think?
@ Yoni -Why, thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou're into a brand new concept here, with the body furniture. We should pitch it to some hot-shot designer. It could be all the rage in Europe. People will stand in lines to get branded with their very own "RIHUT" brand.
@ Anonymous - Oops, my bad! Fixed now.
@Shmulik - "Articulate", that's the word! I was hunting for it in my head yesterday, but couldn't quite locate it. Still, "Fluent" is pretty close, and does also means RAHUT.
As for being weird, I don't know about that. Those particular words don't seem any weirder than any other Hebrew tattoo. Having any single word tattooed in Hebrew is pretty weird...
Actually, I would say "Eloquent".
ReplyDeleteI recall once apologizing on Ch 2 for my 'moogbellet' (limited) Hebrew and the host charitably calling me 'rahut'. Drove home from Hertzliya wondering whatever could she have meant, besides...um..'lawn-chairs'?
ReplyDeleteI always use 'rahut' for fluent, even though 'shotef' has a nice connection with the 'flow' root of fluency. Plus, 'shotef' kinda also means 'You got 30 days to pay, buddy." How's that for a tattoo on the tokhes?
I think you switched your heh and vav. At this point it says something like "tuhar"...
ReplyDeleteSince it is not Kosher (impure) for a Jew to be tattooed,does it seem ironic to anyone that a purity tattoo on a presumably Jewish women would be mistakenly turned into something else?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous1: No mistakes here. My word says Tohar, which means "Purity". If you switch the Vav and He, you get Tahor, which means "Pure".
ReplyDelete@Anonymous2: Were this girl a Jew, it would be ultimately ironic, definitely!
However, it's highly unlikely that this girl is Jewish. Most of the spiritual and religious Hebrew tattoos are tattooed on Christians. The tattooed Jews usually don't have spiritual intentions, what with the prohibition and all.
Beside, even if it was "TAHOR", "TEHORA" or "REHUTA" - as a native Hebrew speaker I'd say they all seem weird for tattoo options. Don't you think?
ReplyDelete