Chinese/Japanese speakers: Can you please tell me what this means?

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http://www.4bitterguys.com/adam/ahso.jpg

― Adamdrome Crankypants (Autumn Almanac), Thursday, 23 December 2004 08:24 (twenty-one years ago)

"We wash hats"

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 23 December 2004 10:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Well it's Chinese, but you probably already knew that.

The top character means 'older sister.' The next character means 'south.' The next character means 'add to.' I have no idea what the last character means.

As for the overall meaning, I have no idea.

― supercub, Thursday, 23 December 2004 12:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I have a chines tattoo on my upper arm, dead fine and delicate, which I had written for me by the owner of my local chinese restaurant. (I'm on familiar terms with the guy so I felt he wouldn't arse me about) I asked him for something that would commemorate my gran who had died shortly before, so he wrote out characters meaning "Grandmother Never Forgotten"

I was in another restaurant some years later, and one of the chinese waitresses, an older woman kept smiling and nodding at me. When we were leaving she shook my hand and bowed.

Either she was touched by the tattoo or what it actually says is "I'm the Queen, please treat me with Respect"

― Rumpster Pumpster, Thursday, 23 December 2004 12:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Supercub, I disagree. The top symbol has the same radical on the left as older sister, but the right radical is different. I don't know what it is though.

― Laura H. (laurah), Thursday, 23 December 2004 13:55 (twenty-one years ago)

that is the character for sister in chinese

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

but what was on that jpeg makes very little sense in chinese context, i suspect this is actually some japanese use of chinese characters

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

the photo hasn't been taken from the "wrong" side of the sign has it? would it make any difference if it was the other way round?

― CarsmileSteve (CarsmileSteve), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:03 (twenty-one years ago)

this site is handy..
ihttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/kenjuggle2/sister.jpg

p.s. laura i believe there is another, more formal character for older sister.. i can't remember it off the top of my head. but that's probably why there was the confusion.

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:06 (twenty-one years ago)

The top char is a man rowing towards a mangle.

The second is an old fashioned printing press.

The third is Frankie Vaughan singing "Give me the moonlight" followed by two dancing girls that are half his height.

The last says they have run out of pi.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Where is it? Maybe that would help?

― Rumpster Pumpster, Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:09 (twenty-one years ago)

p.s. the last character may be an abbreviation of "open"

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:12 (twenty-one years ago)

but i don't understand the weird japanese ways

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:13 (twenty-one years ago)

no help from google :(

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/kenjuggle2/gngh.jpg

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Is is a sign on a foodstore?
On a poster? A billboard? A birthday card? A hairdresser? Is it just random text plucked from the net? A context would help....

― Rumpster Pumpster, Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:17 (twenty-one years ago)

it looks like part of a comic

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

it's probably the name of a special move of a particular character

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

"Pawn to King Four Check!"

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Hanzi Smatter is often useful, usually amusing, on questions like these.

― Paul Eater (eater), Thursday, 23 December 2004 14:55 (twenty-one years ago)

they are kinda wrong on that second one about "holding lives"/"Controlling destiny" though. A little literal.. since it's a common slang that often just means "making amends after a calamity/fuck-up"

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 23 December 2004 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

haha, as someone rightly commented on there later!

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 23 December 2004 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

The top character means 'older sister.' The next character means 'south.' The next character means 'add to.' I have no idea what the last character means.

Japanese person here confirms that it reads 'sister', 'south', 'add' and something indecipherable which might be 'elephant tusk'.

― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 23 December 2004 16:30 (twenty-one years ago)

So, it's a "The Rapture" songsheet.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 23 December 2004 16:35 (twenty-one years ago)

HOUSE OF! ELEPHANT TUSK!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 23 December 2004 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah, you are probably right, Ken C. I was thinking of the Japanese kanji for older sister, which is http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~IF2N-SZK/gif_kan/o_sis.gif, which is different.

― Laura H. (laurah), Thursday, 23 December 2004 17:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Does it mean, 'Go fuxor your sister with an elepahnt tusk'?

― Michael White (Hereward), Thursday, 23 December 2004 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)

The last one is definitely 'kai', meaning open.

― rwillmsen (rwillmsen), Thursday, 23 December 2004 23:24 (twenty-one years ago)

So, "open the south of your older sister" then.

ITS HENTAI OMG ADAM YOU PERV.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 23 December 2004 23:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Thanks everyone.

The context: It's on a tee-shirt. I was wearing it on holiday, and a Japanese girl stopped me and looked at my chest and went '...wooooah.' Just staring at me, like I was the second coming or summat. Then she said something in Japanese and bumped the girl next to her [her older sister perhaps?], who also went '...wooooah' and also stared at me. Then they both got all excited, and the first one said something else in Japanese and gave me that peace sign with her fingers that Japanese people do.

So she probably wanted a threesome with me and her older sister. I dunno.

― Adamdrome Crankypants (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 29 December 2004 02:12 (twenty-one years ago)

i've just worked it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

― ken c (ken c), Wednesday, 29 December 2004 02:27 (twenty-one years ago)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/kenjuggle2/woah.jpg

― ken c (ken c), Wednesday, 29 December 2004 02:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Well it was a sticky day...

― Adamdrome Crankypants (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 29 December 2004 02:40 (twenty-one years ago)

You seem to be wearing a t-shirt that is nonsense. But there are plenty of nonsense English t-shirts in Japan and China, so I guess you shouldn't feel too silly about it.

― supercub, Wednesday, 29 December 2004 03:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh man, that day I saw so much chinglish my nose bled from laughing so much. Literally dozens and dozens of tee-shirts, hats and handbags with such sentiments as LOVES HOURS and HAPPILY emblazoned across them.

― Adamdrome Crankypants (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 29 December 2004 03:20 (twenty-one years ago)

five years pass...

Now that I've spent roughly a year learning Chinese I have no trouble at all reading this (姐南加开 = older sister south plus/Canada open = ABSOLUTELY NOTHING) and have regular lols at people whose gibberish tattoos render this T-shirt sensible by comparison.

― 14d. South African cleric (2,2) (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 15 November 2010 23:44 (fifteen years ago)

Aaaaand Google just told me it says 'Miss Southern California Open'. T-shirt was not American so who knows wtf that's all about.

― 14d. South African cleric (2,2) (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 15 November 2010 23:51 (fifteen years ago)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4479802056_466f0a5110.jpg

― i love you but i have chosen snarkness (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 16 November 2010 00:35 (fifteen years ago)

Awes. How the eff did you find that? GIS?

― 14d. South African cleric (2,2) (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 16 November 2010 01:01 (fifteen years ago)

thought this said "chinese/japanese sneakers'

― odd futures I have hyped (dayo), Tuesday, 16 November 2010 01:15 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiangotlost/4479802056/

apparently it says "FUCK" "YOU" at the bottom!!

― Eto'o ))) (ken c), Tuesday, 16 November 2010 01:17 (fifteen years ago)

Good lord. Miss Southern California (southern affiliation) must be a bitch.

This site is tops for lolarious drunken tattoos: http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/

― 14d. South African cleric (2,2) (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 16 November 2010 01:26 (fifteen years ago)

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