Saying It All in a Word Tattoo

A picture is worth a thousand words. In its display of colors and lines, and symbols and settings, it can communicate far more about an individual or a concept in a smaller expanse than a stretch of descriptive words can manage. Letters and words, however, have their own artistic beauty in their clarity of message and simpler, more timeless aesthetic, and these days, an increasing number of people are forgoing pictorial tattoos in favor of alphanumeric ones. The word tattoo has vaulted to a position among the most prevailing tattoo trends today.

These tattoos range in style from single words in simple typefaces to long passages of literature, poetry, philosophy, or whatever else strikes the tattooed scrawled in elaborate script across their bodies. Commonly seen in English, Latin, French, Italian, and German, the word tattoo bears an easily understood message and is ideal for those who want to keep important words and passages close.

Elsewhere in the world of the written word tattoo, the complexity of the Chinese and Japanese writing systems has made their characters a highly appealing option for many a tattoo-seeker, and such tattoos have maintained their status among the top tattoo trends for years. Given the intricate design of these characters, they tend to be more visually stimulating and can carry an added layer of mystique around those who are unfamiliar with the languages. Caution must be taken when getting a foreign character tattoo however, as horror stories abound about people who discovered what they thought to be their Strength and Vitality tattoo was in actuality advertising them as bootlicks for hire.

Arabic tattoos, too, are becoming more popular, thanks in part to celebrities like Rihanna and Angelina Jolie, but also because of the increasing collective desire to promote beauty and diversity as a united concept. As with Chinese and Japanese tattoos, one must do their research before committing to getting an Arabic word tattoo. Each Arabic character has up to four forms - independent, word-beginning, word-middling, and word-ending - and many people misunderstand the nuances of the language. What results are tattoos that pretend to be in Arabic but really don't form words at all, and the only statement they make is one of ignorance.

Whether one gets a tattoo in a native language, an acquired one, or one that is unknown, a word tattoo is an interesting and easily personalized way to participate in tattoo trends. That is, so long as people are vigilant about spelling and learning how to best communicate their message through a foreign language. When written properly, the word tattoo can carry a lifelong message with a lifelong impact. When written incorrectly, however, they can be a source of embarrassment made worse by how easily mistakes are avoided. Be wise.