Requesting the help of Kitsune-san!

Everything else
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I’ve been dying to get a tattoo for ages. For a while, I had one figured out, but it was based on my previous personal logo, which I’ve recently decided needs to infringe on trademarked fonts a little less.

So lately I’ve been hit with the itch to get some inkin’ done, and I’m finding it difficult to think of anything that I want permanantly etched on my epedermis.

I’ve finally settled on the word “geek,” but I’d like to get it done in katakana or kanji, preferably the latter. And before anyone says anything - Please, no lectures on trendiness. I can’t help it if I think japanese is badass.

Anyways, doing so requires knowing what the japanese word for geek is. The closest I’ve come is “otaku,” but from my understanding, the colloquial definition is similar to “enthusiast,” and carries a negative connotation with it. Geekiness implies a certain…something…an aura of inquisitiveness, deft in some sort of technical trades, while often lacking common sense, who is eclectic in many ways, without being utterly socially inept like your dorks and nerds.

So, if anyone can help a guy out, it’d be greatly appreciated.

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Something like that. But I never wear horizontally striped shirts. I don’t need to look any fatter than they already do.

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I’m assuming you can view Japanese fonts…

Hmmm, well there’s nothing that exactly corresponds to the word geek in Japanese, but there should be a few words that come close to what you want:

[size=6]かわっている or カワッテル[/size] = someone who is weird or odd in a not too negative way, definitely idiosyncratic and a bit unique, if a little nerdish.

[size=6]天才 or テンサイ[/size] ＝this is more of a genius type of thing, someone unusually intelligent, but it also carries the connotation of being a little out of the loop socially.

[size=6]ださい or ダサイ [/size]= this means “uncool” or “unfashionable” someone who really doesn’t go with the more normal or mainstream and may even be a little weird.

[size=6]~マニア[/size] = the tilde would be for whatever you want to put in front of. For instance, Compyutaa Mania is someone who is really good with computers, obsessed with them to the point that he or she is a dork about it.

[size=6]変梃 or ヘンテコ [/size]＝ This is on the stronger side of really strange and idiosyncratic and esoteric. Like, I guess, mad scientist weird and dorky.

Though in the end your best bet might be [size=6] オタク or お宅。[/size] In the latter, that’s kind of where the expression came from and if you use that, you’ll definitely have an air of reverse psychology irony. Though it is true, this term is viewed quite negatively in Japan. Geek in katakana would be [size=6]ギーク。[/size]

That’s about all I’m coming up with right now, these are the least harsh and most accurate terms I can think of.

Oi, whenever I do this, I start writing Japanese in English and thinking via Japanese in English. Size…size…not sise…not saizu…oi…

-Kitsune

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Hrm. Quite a few of those are close, but almost not close enough. By the way, can you edit your post and add in the “English Spelling” of those words? I’d like to be able to run some further searches and stuff, and start a text file with all this information handy.

Perhaps I can distill the essence of geek into a few words that are representable through Kanji. I’m gonna have to do some reflection on what it means to be a geek.

Looking a bit closer, “geek” would really be an amalgamation of the stuff you posted. Is there any way to perform “compression” on those? ;)

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Kitsune,

What would the characters be for buso-senshi?

Thanks

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What are the roots of those kanji, and what’s the rough translations of them?

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Saw this link, should be of interest to you

http://echo.colum.edu/back/winspr02/intensecity1.html

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That’s not nearly as bad as the Asian (can’t remember what country he was from) tattoo artist who, if someone asked for “fate,” would tattoo something like “asswad.” Or if someone asked for “love,” they might get cocksucker.

Essentially, he maliciously and intentionally gave people the wrong tattoos, just to fuck with them. Scary stuff.

Hence my research, and hence me consulting not only Kitsune, but about every one of my friends who speak Japanese. Seperately. If they knew as a collective that I was doing this, I have a feeling that I’d have “I take it in the ass” permanantly etched on me somewhere.

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Aren’t you leery of getting a tattoo of a language you can’t even understand?

What if all of Kitsune’s suggestions translated into “I stole the whiteman’s pride” ?

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Then they’d be independently verified by several kanji dictionaries and several Japanese-speaking/reading friends. :)

I’m a thorough motherfucker, trust me. I spent 6 months on the last tattoo I designed before I was sure I’d want to get it tattooed, though I’m glad I didn’t. It would’ve been far too extravagant and gaudy for my scaled-down tastes these days. It actually involved color; any tat I’d get now would be black on skin, maybe some white accents.

But whereas the subject matter the previous design was based on could change with time, I am eternally a geek. It’s something I’ve come to embrace, one of the most deep-rooted traits I possess. As soon as the thought flashed over my mind, I knew that it was golden.

So yeah, I’m not too worried. I’m gonna take my time and get this figured out. :)