Whether you are a tattoo lover or not, you'll agree that proofreading is essential when permanently inking any writings on your body. We've seen too many absurd tattoos, and they've left us wondering what the person who got inked and the tattoo artist were thinking.
While these poor souls have to live with their misspelled mistakes, they've provided us with some much-needed laughter. Here's a list of some of those tattoo fails we are talking about, and at the very least, they teach us to pay more attention to grammar and proofread when getting body art.
Just Receipt It
At first glance, this looks like a rather cool tattoo, but wait, is that a McDonald's receipt tattooed on someone's arm? We doubt even the founders of the fast-food company would go to this extent.
This Norwegian man named Stian Ytterdah permanently plastered it on his arm as a form of punishment from his mates in 2014. He was given a choice to tattoo a Barbie doll on his bum or the receipt on his arm. Clearly, he chose the latter, and apparently, his parents aren't a big fan of it. McDonald's Norway has called Stian a "loyal customer." Does "loyal" mean "stupid in Norweigian?
Failure To Plan Ahea...
This is yet another eye-catching tattoo, and you wouldn't think that there's something wrong with it until you looked again. This person didn't do enough prior planning, so they ended up with an incomplete statement.
They were clearly going for "plan ahead," but the thumbs wouldn't have displayed the letter as effectively. The question is: When did they notice the issue? Was it after inking the first few letters, or they just decided to go with it right from the start? If they wanted to make a statement, at least they got that part right.
On The Chin Politics
Getting inked on the fleshier parts of your skin hurts the least, and the same applies to getting smaller versus bigger tattoos. Most people typically tattoo their forearms or wrists, but again, some cover their entire bodies.
This guy chose the area between his chin and neck, but the writing is what's making us curious. It looks like a rather bold campaign slogan, which is an immense display of dedication to such a cause. Perhaps Jeb is the guy with the tattoo, and he's considering running for office, or it might just be an inside joke we'll never get.
A Clenching Display
Most folks get tattoos for aesthetic reasons, while others use them to hide or transform certain body parts. For instance, they are a go-to solution for most people who want to hide surgery scars. Women who've had mastectomies also often get 3D nipples as a way to ease the difficult transition.
However, this guy must have a great sense of humor and went for a tattoo design that incorporates his nipple. It must serve as an awkward conversation starter at the gym, or it just gets him all the attention he wants.
Did Nina Say Yes?
The world's oldest tattoo artist is a 103-year-old Filipina woman called Whang-od. She started tattooing indigenous women and headhunters in the Butbut region of Buscalan in the Philippines since she was 15. The point is that everyone starts somewhere, but this tattoo job must be a joke.
This is the kind of ink work that would land any tattoo artist in court, fighting a lawsuit for inflicting painfully misspelled damages on this person. If this was an actual tattoo proposal, let's hope that Nina found it funny enough to say yes.
Dying For Avos
The "alligator pear tree" is what we now know as the avocado. Sir Hans Sloane first referred to the fruit as avocado in a 1969 Jamaican plants catalog, but he also called it the rather repugnant alligator pear.
Tons of people love avocadoes, and it's practically become a star amongst other fruits. This guy wanted the whole world to know that he would die for avos, or at least that's the interpretation we are going for. He came up with this twisted piece of body art, and the person behind the tattoo is a true artist for literally nailing it.
The Clown Prince
Many celebrities have tattoos, including Justin Beiber, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, and Lady Gaga. Macaulay Culkin and his goddaughter, Paris Jackson, even have matching spoon tattoos. According to Entertainment Weekly's report on the new tattoos, spoons often represent chronic struggle (likely citing the Spoon Theory of chronic illness).
As for this guy, he has a tattoo of Jared Leto as the "clown prince" from Suicide Squad—albeit a botched one. Leto also has several tattoos, including Latin words inked on his chest near the collar bone. The Latin metaphor "Provehito in Altum" loosely translates to launching into the deep.
Lost In Translation
A couple of presidents also got inked. For instance, Theodore Roosevelt had a tattoo on his chest of his family crest. Andrew Jackson also had a tattoo, and in his case, it was a tomahawk well-hidden on his inner thigh. James Polk, on the other hand, had a Chinese character tattoo.
Most people go for Chinese character tattoos without necessarily knowing what they are signing up for, though, like this guy who just realized that his buddy's tattoo means turkey sandwich. They probably thought that their tattoo said something meaningful like love or power, common Chinese characters people get inked on their body.
Slum Dunk
Some people get tattoos to hide moles and birthmarks, but doctors disapprove. About 16 cases of malignant melanoma were documented to have developed from the pigmented spot covering, so it's best to go for a design that doesn't hide the mole or birthmark like this guy. It's an excellent way to embrace a mole that you can't exactly hide.
The head ranks up on the list of places where you will likely experience the most pain tattooing. The skin around the face is thin with minimal cushioning, and it's where many nerve endings can get irritated and cause severe pain.
Crown It
The nipples and breast area are very sensitive, but still, people go ahead and tattoo these spots. They must be people who have an extremely high threshold for pain because getting inked means having your skin pierced anywhere from 50 to 3,000 times each minute.
A tattoo is, in essence, the result of groupings of needle points rather than a single needlepoint perforating the skin to get the desired outcome. Looking at this photo is painful enough, but this guy got exactly what he wanted. He crowned off his nipple with a cute El Señor-inspired figure.
A Grammatical Error
In the U.S., more women are inked compared to men. That's according to a poll conducted by Lightspeed Research and Oxygen Network, revealing that 59% of women have tattoos compared to 41% of men who have them. Remember not to drink before going into your tattoo session because alcohol thins your blood, and in turn, you'll bleed more during the process.
Tattoo artists should not get drunk either, but it's evident that this tattoo artist was wasted because the only way to explain this grammatical error is that a sloshed tattooer was behind it.
A "Ferocious" Chest
Chinese philosopher Confucius didn't particularly have a high opinion about the practice of tattooing. He propagated that our bodies are gifts, and it's best to preserve them how we get them from our parents. On the contrary, China stone sculptures from as early as the 3rd century BC depict men with face tattoos.
When we see people with "ferocious" tattoos like this guy, we start leaning more towards the philosophy Confucius held about body art. Many others in Ancient China thought that criminals should be marked using tattoos as a form of punishment, on top of exiling them from their communities.
Mind-Bending Tattoo
One of the oldest tattoo ink recipes recorded included an unusual ingredient. An ancient Roman physician called Aetius came up with the tattoo ink that had insect egg deposits as one of the ingredients. It also contained pine bark, vinegar, leek juice, corroded bronze, and vitriol.
If that ink lived on to date, we wouldn't be seeing too many quirky and mind-bending tattoos like this one. But again, way before Aetius came up with his special ink, tattoo artists used a mixture of charcoal, soot, and other natural ingredients to get the work done.
Imitation Isn't Always Flattery
They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, but we don't think Marilyn Monroe would have appreciated this tattoo version of one of her famous photos. It's a great example of "what you order versus what you get," and who knows, the recipient might be happy with it.
On the plus side, if this person decided to have this tattoo removed, black is the easiest color to remove with a laser procedure. Vibrant colored ink does not absorb laser waves in great numbers like black ink, so colored tattoos are harder to eliminate from the skin.
Genius Or A Slithering Mistake?
For some people, inking every inch of their skin isn't enough. Instead, they opt for extensive body modifications to transform themselves into pretty much what they desire. Most people go for animal-centric looks, while some go as far as transforming their look to appear like fantasy creatures they've seen in movies.
This person is clearly a snake lover, and the slithering serpent's skin inspired their look. Some well-known people who've taken body modification to a whole new level include The Zebra Man (Horace Ridler), Leopard Man (Tom Woodbridge), The Lizardman (Erik Sprague), and Catwoman (Katzen Hobbes).
All "Hoop" Isn't Lost
A majority of people who've gotten tattooed shared that the process provided a therapeutic and healing experience. It could have a thing to do with the endorphins released while the tattoo needle punctures the skin repeatedly, much like what is experienced with acupuncture.
Now imagine getting this artistically written tattoo and feeling all kinds of high until you realize that there's a misspelled word. We "hoop" the person who got the tattoo has a great sense of humor, but perhaps changing the extra o into a p and the p into an e can't be that hard.
Wrist Shift
Hearts and angels are amongst the most popular tattoo designs. Most people also generally gravitate towards motifs that depict nature, traits like love, beauty and strength, and spiritual elements. Overall, there's a sense of empowerment that comes with getting body art as a way of expressing your inner self.
Well, this guy reminds us that sometimes there's nothing more than meets the eye when it comes to tattoos, and they don't necessarily need to have a deeper meaning. He got the gear shift arrangement of a manual transmission vehicle inked on his wrist for reasons only he knows best.
The M&M Pun
It's understood that tattoos are there to stick around with you unless you have enough of them and want to get them removed. As expensive and painful as they are to get, laser tattoo removal is said to be equally as costly and painful.
Now, this person who decided to go for an Eminen-M&M pun might not find it as funny as they did when they got inked. The removal process takes months, with about six to eight sessions needed to rid yourself of the tattoo. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the price per session for a laser removal surgery is about $463.
It's All In The Head
Scalp micropigmentation (SMP) is equivalent to the microblading process for the head. It essentially creates an illusion of having a head full of hair. An electric tattoo device is used to create the lines that appear like strands on your head. That is, however, far from what we see here.
This is someone who figured that their bald head provided prime space to ink something possibly artistic on their body. They went with a turtle, and we hate to admit that it does look a bit cool, but we wonder how it looks from the front.
Permanent Eyeglasses
The estimate is that people spend $1.61 billion annually on tattoos in the U.S. alone. In fact, people in the U.S. pay the most globally on getting inked, but Italy leads in terms of the country where tattoos are most popular. An estimated 48% of the Italian population has at least one tattoo.
Most people want to get unique tattoos, and this guy truly has one. He had to probably sign a contract at the start of the appointment just in case things didn't go as planned, or he changed his mind later on about his tattooed eyeglasses.
An Abstract Work Of Art
Human remains dating to 400 BCE and bearing imageries of the Egyptian god Bes were discovered. That's the earliest known signs of symbolic tattoos, and before that, tattoos took geometric and abstract patterns. All the tattooed mummies also happened to be female.
This tattoo artist seems to have decided to go the super retro way with this one because it looks more abstract than an actual depiction of a tiger. The roses are either an attempt to try and make the tiger look less awful, or the tiger came later on and ruined everything.
Soaring High Like An Eagle
George C. Reiger Jr. has all 101 Dalmatians and a total of 1,000 Disney characters tattooed all over his body. It wasn't easy getting all those characters inked on his body, for starters, because he had to seek permission from Disney to tattoo the copyrighted images on his body.
Reiger has a fascinating story to tell behind his tats, but this man right here is someone's uncle, and we doubt his tale is compelling enough for family dinners. While 72% of people who are inked prefer to hide them underneath their clothes, this guy is proud to display his tattoo on his forehead.
No More Missing Socks
A study by Samsung estimates that the average person loses 15 socks each year. Statistician Geoff Ellis and Dr. Simon Moore turned to science for answers. They concluded that socks get lost when more than one person handles laundry.
Usually, the missing sock is always where you wouldn't think to look, like behind radiators, the bottom of the washing basket, or under furniture. This guy seems like he's had enough of missing socks, so he got himself a tattooed pair. However, it seems to beat the purpose because he's still wearing an actual pair of white socks.
Bulls Eye
For some reason, men—at least the ones on this list—seem to have a fascination with getting tattoo designs that incorporate their nipples. This guy has a decent Thom Yorke tattooed sketch, with one of his nipples as Yorke's eye.
Interestingly, a couple of celebrities have tattooed the faces of other famous folks on their bodies. For instance, Drake has tats of Lil Wayne, Sade, and Aaliyah. Justin Bieber had tattooed the face of his former flame Selena Gomez on his wrist, which he covered up by shading after they split.
A Monstrous Back
It's hard to believe that this tattoo is real, but it's a prime example of reality versus expectation. It only goes downhill when we revisit history and remember that certain cultures are known to mix a special ingredient in tattoo color. Coal dust and urine are sometimes included in tattoo ink because of the waste product's perceived antiseptic properties.
Well, we can thank our lucky stars that the tattoo ink commonly used these days consist of pigments with carriers. Add-ins like vodka and Listerine are sometimes added to the mix to help with sterilization when concocting homemade inks.
Love That's Skin Deep
In life, you find love in unexpected places, and most people who get inked usually tattoo the name or image of their loved one. As seen through this tattoo, the object of affection isn't always human. This guy's fondness for his pet turtle is beyond measure, and he got it written all over his arm.
Kidding aside, you could describe it as a love that's skin deep, given that the ink is injected into the second layer of your skin. The skin's outermost layer (epidermis) simply acts as a sheer veil covering the tattoo that rests on the skin's second layer (dermis).
Unzipping His Soul
When someone tells you that they wish they knew you "inside out," well, this guy provides a solution to metaphorically make it happen. You could just unzip his back to see what lies deep inside. We can conclude from his tattoo that this isn't a guy who is afraid to break a couple of rules on occasion.
Social scientists say that people who have tattoos typically lean towards non-conformity. They are also said to be more adventurous when it comes to their outlook in life and prefer low-risk but unorthodox experiences.
Gosling's Biggest Fan
Ever since Ryan Gosling offered a stellar performance in The Notebook, he became one of the ultimate Hollywood heartthrobs. It isn't only the ladies who swoon over him online. From what we see here, one of Gosling's super fans decided to display it in a weird way.
Gosling has five tattoos, and naturally, they have symbolic meaning. He has one of The Giving Tree because his mom used to read the book to him and his sibling when growing up. He also has his daughter Esmeralda's nickname "Esme" tattooed on the knuckles of his left hand.
The Best Portrait
Sometimes the best form of flattery you could give yourself is to tattoo an image of your face on your body. We'd imagine that you would go for your best photo, and for this guy, we guess this is it.
Rocker Tommy Lee went a different route with his quest for self-expression through tattoos in 2007. Mario Barth tattooed a gray peacock on Lee's body while they were cruising 45,000 feet above the skies aboard his private jet. That made Lee the first known person to get a mile-high tattoo.
Eerily Realistic
Tattoos have also been the subject of clinical studies because they are thought to open a window into the wearer's mind. Mental health practitioners use tattoos to explore aspects of their patient's self-identity, and in turn, this helps in treating the person. For instance, some people get memorial tattoos to cope with the grief of losing a loved one.
In essence, when someone tattoos a huge portrait on their arm, there might be more than meets the eye. While this is one of the most realistic tats we've seen, it looks like it involved a high level of pain getting it.
Giving New Meaning To "Taking The Bull By The Horns"
The tattoo renaissance took place during the mid-20th century, and at the time, they weren't trendy. Russian and English royalty started getting tattoos around the 18th to 20th centuries, and the form of body expression was quite expensive. They soon became affordable and aristocratic families dropped the practice deriding it as something best left for the commoners.
Well, we're sure this guy's family must wish that we still lived in the age when getting inked was still expensive. At the same time, he must have a good reason for getting horn tattoos on his forehead. We just can't imagine getting it ourselves, no matter what the reason.
They Won't Let Him Out
Most prisons ban tattooing within the institutions because they are usually used to group inmates in gangs or affiliate with hate groups. It hasn't prevented inmates from getting inked while serving their time, and according to the Canadian government's statistics, 45% of inmates get prison tats.
There's also the concern about infections spreading rapidly due to the practice because prisoners use the crudest tools to ink themselves. Perhaps this guy might have gotten inked before he ended up behind bars, but the orange prison gab he's wearing doesn't support this claim.
Making A Fashionable Statement
The late Rick Genest broke barriers when he joined the modeling industry with tattoos covering about 90% of his body. Dubbed "zombie boy," Genest survived brain surgery as a teenager, and as an adult, he decided to live life to the fullest.
Genest appeared in Lady Gaga's music video for her song "Born This Way," and he also took part in multiple fashion campaigns. It just shows that tats can be fashionable, but in this case, this guy loves Gucci so much that he bedazzled his scalp with tats of the brand's signature design.
No Conceivable Reason For This
Ötzi is the oldest known natural mummy uncovered in the Alps in 1991. He's believed to have walked the earth around 3400 and 3100 BCE, some 5,000 years ago. One notable aspect about Ötzi is that he had an impressive 61 tattoos.
Ötzi's tattoos were a series of black lines with pigment rubbed into small linear incisions made on his skin. The point is that even Ötzi's tattoos had meaning and were believed to be from punctures made to his skin to relieve intestinal pain he suffered related to whipworm. We just can't think of a good enough reason for this guy getting a rooster tattoo.
Bad Press
Tattoos are illegal in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey. A few states in the U.S. also once banned the practice. For nearly 40 years, you couldn't get inked in New York City. A Hepatitis B outbreak was used as a veil to scare the city's inhabitants from getting tattoos.
A theory suggests that Robert F. Wagner Jr issued the ban to clean up the city ahead of the 164 World Fair. The ban was officially lifted in 1997. This tat is one of the works a shop used to advertise on their Instagram account, and it's anyone's judgment whether it increased the number of their clients or not.
When Barefooters Strike
Believe it or not, there's a massive community of global folks who decided to ditch the constraints offered by footwear. The barefoot community cites several reasons for choosing to ditch footwear, with the common reason being the need to alleviate pain from wearing footwear while performing activities like running.
Some folks say that they simply love the pleasure they get from their feet touching the bare ground. They still toss on a pair in places where they are required to cover their feet, and this man might have thought that tattooing his feet this way would do the trick.
When Crocs Are Life
While we're on the topic of footwear, this guy must be the biggest Crocs fan to the point of getting this tat. Experts, on the other hand, frown on the long-term damage that comes with wearing Crocs. The footwear shot to popularity in 2002, and around 300 million pairs of these comfortable kicks have been sold since.
They are particularly popular in the medical profession because of their comfortability. Podiatrists say that they are not suitable to wear all day because, while they cushion the arch, they don't provide adequate support to the heels.
DIY Tattoo
The adage that a physician should treat themself applies to tattoos. This is a tattoo artist who operates a store, and she apparently inked a portrait of herself on her thigh. She certainly nailed the look, but it also might be vanity at its best.
Martin Hildebrandt is believed to have been the first known tattoo artist in America. A German immigrant, Hilderbrant set up shop at the Bowery of Manhattan, which operated late in the 19th century. Little evidence exists about his life, making him a mysterious yet intriguing part of the American tattoo history.
Bug Lover
The fear of creepy crawlies is called entomophobia or insectophobia. Most of the time, the condition is quite serious and crippling, rendering a person in a near-paralyzed state when they come across a bug. Some people are even known to start trembling just at the mention of insects.
This guy ignored his friend's warning about getting this tattoo, and he chose a rather hard-to-miss spot for it. He must be an insect lover and probably has a shrine filled with all kinds of bugs at home. The only problem is if he has someone in his life who has entomophobia.
The Best Form Of Artistic Expression
This is downright one of the coolest or creepy tats we've seen yet. It embodies what tattoos are all about; an artistic form of expression and an essential part of human culture that won't fade away any time soon. It sure looks entertaining if you find yourself seated behind this guy on a plane.
We just wonder what kind of work he does and what they think about his tattoo. Thankfully, his isn't yet another word ink with grammar issues. In fact, the word tattoo itself is one of the most misspelled in the English language.