# Tattoo Help



## Enigman (Mar 13, 2008)

So spring break is coming up soon and I'm gonna get a new tattoo. I've already decided on what I'm gonna get, its going to be a tattoo of olidammara's mask. I want to put a quote of some sort underneath it to give it a little more meaning though. So I need some suggestions on what you think would be best. It needs to be fairly short cause, I don't have that much skin. The best I can think of right now is something to do with fate and dice rolling. I'm trying to keep it D&D related but not so obvious that I just show off my nerdness. 

Any help would be appreciated.


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## Nyaricus (Mar 13, 2008)

_alea jacta est_ - The die has been cast.

A phrase made famous by Julius Caesar (who quoted it off the Roman historian Suetonius), it represents the point of no return; once you case down the dice, you have to take what comes. It's kinda like luck - you have to take it as it comes (and goes).

More info here

Personally, I've always loved the phrase and plan to get a tattoo of that myself one day - but I'm more than willing to share 

cheers,
--N


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## Tewligan (Mar 13, 2008)

Enigman said:
			
		

> I'm trying to keep it D&D related but not so obvious that I just show off my nerdness.



See, I would make it SO D&D related that the nerdness does a 180 and becomes awesome. Oh wait, I DID do that...


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## Enigman (Mar 14, 2008)

Nyaricus said:
			
		

> _alea jacta est_ - The die has been cast.




Oh wow, I didn't even think of doing something in latin. Thanks for the idea, its got everything I want in a quote. It's about dice, fate, and its in a language no one can read so I can make it seem so much deeper in meaning then it is. Lol.


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## Relique du Madde (Mar 14, 2008)

Tewligan said:
			
		

>





WARDUKE!!!!


That reminds me of this one guy I saw with a tatoo of the covers of the original Super Mario Bros. Nintendo game and Duck Hunt on his arms.  I also knew someone with a tattoo of the Nintendo Zapper (gray handle version).

Personally, If I wanted a gamer tattoo I'd get one of the cover of an older edition of DND (maybe ADnD 2nd Edition) or a group of dice (d20, d4, 2d10s d8, d12 and 4d6).


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## Teflon Billy (Mar 14, 2008)

The (Handful of Flaming Dice) has Been Cast...


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## Enigman (Mar 14, 2008)

Me and my tattoo artist might make a few changes but I think this is what the general idea will be. Now I just need to decide where to put it. I'm thinking either near my shoulder on my arm or on my calf.


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## Nyaricus (Mar 16, 2008)

Enigman said:
			
		

> Me and my tattoo artist might make a few changes but I think this is what the general idea will be. Now I just need to decide where to put it. I'm thinking either near my shoulder on my arm or on my calf.



Looks awesome man, I'm happy you liked my idea enough to get it permanently inscribed upon your flesh 

Personally, I think having it on the arm would make the most sense. Mankind has generally meted out its will with its hands (that's why people make such a fuss about opposable thumbs, lol); the hands are connected with the arm, and the arm should sport that sort of token. It's a sort of symbolism, if that was hard to follow before haha.

Anyways, just my two coppers

cheers,
--N


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## Galethorn (Mar 17, 2008)

Keep in mind that there's no J in latin; it's ALEA *I*ACTA EST in the original latin.


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## Nyaricus (Mar 17, 2008)

Galethorn said:
			
		

> Keep in mind that there's no J in latin; it's ALEA *I*ACTA EST in the original latin.



True, but translation-wise, is it not an 'j'?


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## Galethorn (Mar 17, 2008)

It's debatable. It's my understanding that when spoken by Julius Caesar, he pronounced it 'ee-ahk-tah,' much like Jesus, in latin, was spelled IESU/IESUS (depending on the tense), and pronounced 'ee-ey-sue' by the people who were chanting the name in the first century AD. The other likely pronunciation for these 'IA/IE' words would be like 'ja' in German, in the case of IA, or like 'Yay' in English for IE.

In English, it's difficult to imagine anyone pronouncing it either of those ways; 'Jack-tuh' or 'Zhack-tuh' seem much more likely for native English speakers.

And, as far as I'm concerned, it makes sense to work with the alphabet that comes with Latin when transcribing Latin phrases. Were it an originally Russian, Mandarin, or Arabic phrase, it would make sense to warp the pronunciation a bit so you could use the Latin alphabet. Changing Ia to Ja with Latin seems more equivalent to replacing the Ö in German with OE, or spelling Paris 'Pairee.'

That's just me, of course. When in Rome...


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## Nyaricus (Mar 17, 2008)

Galethorn said:
			
		

> It's debatable. It's my understanding that when spoken by Julius Caesar, he pronounced it 'ee-ahk-tah,' much like Jesus, in latin, was spelled IESU/IESUS (depending on the tense), and pronounced 'ee-ey-sue' by the people who were chanting the name in the first century AD. The other likely pronunciation for these 'IA/IE' words would be like 'ja' in German, in the case of IA, or like 'Yay' in English for IE.
> 
> In English, it's difficult to imagine anyone pronouncing it either of those ways; 'Jack-tuh' or 'Zhack-tuh' seem much more likely for native English speakers.
> 
> ...



Ah, see, you and I are kindred hearts when it comes to it. I had simply thought that it was the translation which changed the "i" to a "j", whereas that's just some Anglicization of the letter/word.

As with you, I'd much rather have correct, regional pronunciations be the standard world-wide - ie one might say "I'm going to Roma (or "Rome" as we call it) on vacation!" Or, "Caesar quoth 'alea iacta est' as he crossed the Rubicone." Stuff like that.

cheers,
--N


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