When is a "half-sleeve" not a half sleeve?

**hgiles** · 07-05-2012

Ok. I will go first.

"When the inside of the arm isn't tattooed."

Sorry, it's just a pet-peeve of mine -- people calling something a 'half-sleeve' when the inside of the bicep area isn't done. I've even heard people refer to a "Quarter sleeve" when someone just had a tattoo on his shoulder. In my way of thinking there isn't such a thing as a 'quarter sleeve'. You don't even start measuring til you got a real 'half-sleeve'. Then you can have a "three -quarter" or in Japanese vernacular a "7/10s". Then a full sleeve. Or "10/10s"

Please, weigh in.

**OutOfIdeas** · 07-05-2012

i agree, i hate when people say "half-sleeve" unless its covered, top of shoulder to elbow (obviously leaving a little lee-way right by the armpit, nobody likes that shit) To be honest, i kinda dislike the term half-sleeve for some reason. In my mind its almost a full sleeve, or just some tattoos on your arms... but thats just how its always seemed logical in my mind. Maybe its because of people calling anything that covers a large part of one arm a half-sleeve, idk.

**David Flores** · 07-05-2012

I don't have any clue, I just get tattooed. Don't get me wrong I obsess about tattooing and talk about a lot of aspects of tattooing just not the terminology of arm tattoos. Sleeve and half sleeve have kind of become one of those slang words that make you cringe. But I will admit it is part of the tattoo vocab and use the terms at time for lack of a better term. But most of the time I hear any of these terms it's from someone with no tattoos.

As far as Japanese stuff goes the different variations of coverage are pretty interesting. I think it was Taki's book Bushido that breaks a lot of that stuff down.
There seems to be more purpose, a method to the madness if you will. Similar concept just more interesting in my opinion.

**bongsau** · 07-05-2012

Never heard quarter sleeve before. My tattooist called my matching left and right tattoos "short sleeves" when I first started my tattoos. They covered the top of my shoulder and barely peaked out of my t-shirt.

What about the legs? "Leg sock" is just retarded. Nevermind...

**heathenist** · 07-05-2012

This is seriously always a pet peeve of mine and it's amazing how often people use it. Because I'm getting tattooed and working my way down one of my arms right now, my girlfriend always tell people I'm working on a sleeve, and it always makes me cringe just a little because it gives people the wrong idea. Because really, I'm just getting a bunch of tattoos on one arm until it's close to full then getting some filler afterwards, and it will be a long time before I'm done, so saying I'm working on a sleeve kind of seems silly.

**slayer9019** · 07-05-2012

First off it should only be referenced to as squid appendages. I got a squid shirt and some squid pants started but only after the tatty zap gun finishes inkin me bro.

All joking aside, I use the term (even though I hate it) for lack of a better word to most people, but never refer to anything less than a "sleeve". Half, quarter, third-pounder, all sound like shit.