Tattoo Myths and Misconceptions

[Lochlan]

Over the years like with anything stories are created, recreated, recreated (fish tales) and with those stories come people who believe them as fact. They go unquestioned and feed lies to people so lets here peoples tattoo myths you know are busted.......

[Stewart Robson]

Some of the stories and half-truths are pretty amusing and they serve a purpose to protect or obscure some things that should remain at least a little esoteric.

What bugs me more than fables and tall-tales are when someone has half a useful piece of information and it swirls around in their busy little mind until they think they are a fountain of knowledge. They then spout that 'knowledge' to their friends or to people who are desperate for crumbs of information on the internet. But that's a different thing I guess.

I'm not of the opinion that everything should be laid out and explained to any yahoo that comes into a shop or internet forum. So I don't want to burst too many bubbles. But...

In may towns and cities in the north of England, many people believe if you get an 'X' tattooed on the sole of your foot you get it for free.

Variations even extend to: If you get the bottom of your foot tattooed totally black, you get any other tattooing free, for life, from any other tattooer, in the world.

As if more than 5 tattooers can agree on anything, never mind every tattooer in the world adhering to some secret code.

Visitors or customers in those shops were all totally bummed out when I told them that's not true. At least not the way I work.

Fucking nuts.

[ShawnPorter]

Armbands that connect are bad luck.

Variation: Armbands that connect can cut off the circulation and your arm will fall off.

Face/hand/neck tattoos are illegal.

I always feel bad posting right after Stewart. He goes into so much detail that it makes my two sentence posts seem lazy. Perhaps by mentioning this fact it will add a little bit of 'meat' to my post and make it seem like I have more than a ten word vocabulary.

[hogg]

In may towns and cities in the north of England, many people believe if you get an 'X' tattooed on the sole of your foot you get it for free.

Coincidentally, @dcostello told me that, in many towns and cities in the north of California, getting an X tattooed on the back of your hands gets you free drinks.

He was wrong.

[Tight-Lines]

He was wrong.

@hogg

[ShawnPorter]

Coincidentally, @dcostello told me that, in many towns and cities in the north of California, getting an X tattooed on the back of your hands gets you free drinks.

He was wrong.

I know a bartender who'll trade a comp'd shot for an AA token.

So.... edge tattoo gets you a PBR?

[JAllen]

almost every person who comes in wanting a "home made" tattoo covered will state that "the guy tattooed my friends and there tattoos looked good, so i don't know why mine looks so messed up" their tattoos were messed up too, you just aren't stuck looking at it all day, everyday.

[smiling.politely]

i recall my father having to answer an older lady's question when i was in school, asking if his fingernails would eventually darken due to the tattoos. perhaps she thought that the keratin in fingernails came from dead skin cells from various locales on your body... at least, that's the best explanation we thought of.

[Stewart Robson]

Armbands that connect are bad luck.

Variation: Armbands that connect can cut off the circulation and your arm will fall off.

Face/hand/neck tattoos are illegal.

Hahaa! I forgot about the armband thing.

In the last few years the number of people asking for hand/neck tattoos when they have (insert single digit number here) tattoos has increased to the point I've considered bringing back the 'illegal' story.

Taking 20 minutes to explain to a whiny teenager why the world isn't fair, twice or more every day? Or taking 20 seconds to tell them it's illegal? Tempting, for sure.

So we just say "Sorry, we don't do them" Which is more fun than you'd expect, especially as I get to say it while I'm tattooing someone else's hand/neck.

@ShawnPorter Brevity is the soul of wit.

[briankelly]

when i was a teen-age punker, drinking too much and traveling by hitchhiking, i was told that if you had a facial tattoo you would be classified as legally insane and could then collect money from the US government. that sounded like a dream come true. don't think it is actually true, and am sure happy i didn't do it!

[ThaliaCamille]

In may towns and cities in the north of England, many people believe if you get an 'X' tattooed on the sole of your foot you get it for free.

Variations even extend to: If you get the bottom of your foot tattooed totally black, you get any other tattooing free, for life, from any other tattooer, in the world.

Would you believe that this one made it all the way to Australia? Although I think it was a black square on the bottom of the foot.

[abees]

i remember hearing when i was very young that if you got a certain part of your hand tattooed (don't know what part, not that it makes any difference - seeing as it's not true) it would somehow kill you.

also the hands/neck/face being illegal one.

[slayer9019]

Damn, I never heard any of these, but they are funny as hell! Only myth/half-truths I have ever heard revolved around post-care. One was "never let water touch the tattoo after you get it (that included washing...)" I have a feeling this was spawned from "dont go swimming/submerge a fresh tattoo". The other was always keep your tattoo wrapped after you get it....gross!

[mattyrunks]

Red Ink hurts the most.

[Reyeslv]

Red Ink hurts the most.

What I was told regarding the use of red ink was that it was made with mercury. Not currently but back in the day. Not sure if that's true or not. Is there a Myth-buster out there?

[mattyrunks]

Red is made from fire and Blue, obviously, is made from clouds. I also been told by clients that fatty and boney parts hurt more to get tatted, or hurt less, depending. That tat guns go a "million times" a second. That Kat Von D is the most famous tattooer. Of course, there are always the stories that still persist of the ol " fox hunt" tattoo that they're buddy's uncle had. That female tattooers hurt less (especially Kat Von D). Oh ,and where can I get that skin -colored ink to tattoo over unwanted tattoos..Bill WaverLy? I'm lookin at you....

[Kev]

when i was a teen-age punker, drinking too much and traveling by hitchhiking, i was told that if you had a facial tattoo you would be classified as legally insane and could then collect money from the US government. that sounded like a dream come true. don't think it is actually true, and am sure happy i didn't do it!

I heard you could claim disability and collect unemployment with a face tattoo. In the movie "Cadence" starring Charlie and Martin Sheen, a soldier gets sent to the stockade for getting eight balls tattooed on his hands:

I know the military has rules about acceptable placement/subject matter, but IDK if it gets you sent to the stockade.

[David Flores]

You can't drink while you get tattooed because it thins your blood. While I suppose in an extreme case this is true, I have always thought of this as an excuse to get rid of drunk people. Funny thing drunk people don't listen to reason and argue with you anyway so why bother.

[ShawnPorter]

This one i heard a LOT in Tampa-

Always get sparrows, not swallows. Cause swallows are gay code. For.... you know.

[JAllen]

"i'm getting this tattoo because i'm part cherokee" or

"i'm getting this tattoo because i'm irish" - i give gingers a particular hard time about this and tell them that they are actually scottish and were just used as political pawns for the king of england to take over my ancestors country.

[mattyrunks]

I totally got that Hardy sparrow with the eyes in it's body and wings from Murray last year..Eye Swallow...yep..didn't really get it until halfway thru when my buddy Steve said something..ha..oh well.

[Therinx]

Too funny, i've never heard any of these.

Though a friend did once tell me that he never got a tattoo because they can give you cancer.

Oh and then there's the one about not being able to buried in a Jewish cemetary with a tattoo, which i've heard conflicting 'truths' about.

[Iwar]

[posterboy7596]

I've heard that if you tattoo your head the hair won't grow back. I also remember hearing some say that artists would charge per color.

[slayer9019]

I've heard that if you tattoo your head the hair won't grow back. I also remember hearing some say that artists would charge per color.

I completely forgot about the "charge per color". I remember when I was younger a guy who worked for my dad got a panther on his back. He said the reason he got a panther was because they charge by color. I never questioned him because he was a scary as fuck dude