If you've ever seen people with tattoos of foreign language characters and wondered if they really knew what it meant, you'll appreciate this: the Chicago Tribune took a look at five people's Japanese tattoos and compared the actual meaning with what the bearer though it meant. Here's a sample:

What he thinks his tattoo says: his first name (Timothy), translated into Japanese.
What it really means: The three symbols together would be pronounced "tak-ee-may," so it doesn't correspond precisely to Timothy. What the symbols mean in Japanese is sort of a mishmash, something along the lines of "unreliable delivery service" or "lost moving delivery."

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