Tattoo- Amazing Tribal Art 4 of 6

The word "tattoo" is a borrowing of the Samoan word tatau, meaning to mark or strike twice (the latter referring to traditional methods of applying the designs). The first syllable "ta", meaning "hand", is repeated twice as an onomatopoeic reference to the repetitive nature of the action, and the final syllable "U" translates to "color".[citation needed] The instrument used to pierce the skin in Polynesian tattooing is called a hahau, the syllable "ha" meaning to "strike or pierce".[citation needed] Still others attribute the modern word to the phrase used by The Polynesians. The word "tatao", which means "to tap" (whice goes along with the method they used of tapping the skin with the long metal instrument they used with a finely sharpened end. The OED gives the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From Polynesian (Tahitian, Samoan, Tongan, etc.) tatau. In Marquesan, tatu." The first closest known usage of the word in English was recorded in the diary of Captain James Cook in 1769 during his voyage to the Marquesas Islands. The text reads, "...they print signs on people's body and call this tattaw", referring to the Polynesian customs.[citation needed] Sailors on the voyage later introduced both the word and reintroduced the concept of tattooing to Europe.[1]] In Japanese the most common word used for traditional designs is, "Horimono". The traditional Japanese hand method is called, "Tebori". The word, "Irezumi," simply means, "insertion of ink," and could mean tattoos using Tebori, or Western style machine, (Or for that matter, any method of tattoing using insertion of ink). Japanese may use the word, "Tattoo," to mean non-Japanese styles. Tattoo enthusiasts may refer to tattoos as, "Tats," "Ink," "Art," or, "Work," and to tattooists as, "Artists". The latter usage is gaining greater support, with mainstream art galleries holding exhibitions of both traditional and custom tattoo designs. Copyrighted tattoo designs that are mass-produced and sold to tattoo artists are known as flash, a notable instance of industrial design. Flash sheets are prominently displayed in many tattoo parlors for the purpose of providing both inspiration and ready-made tattoo images to customers

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Tattoo
• Ancient
• Ink
• New
• Zealand
• Skin
• art
• Body
• arts
• Polynesian
• tattooing

[luv4yasutora]

i love how if you saw that professor in the streets you'd never think he was so hardcore. that's why i think tattoos are the most raw and personel form of art. needless to say it's the most beautiful form of art as well. tattoo artists are was too underated.

[contradikt]

agree wit you mang

[NaXoth]

Getting a tatto because his grandfather was from Oslo... i personaly find it weird to see Americans that talk about their Nordic heritage when they have an entierly different culture and like a different way of thinking, but i'm also proud of my Nordic heritage and i guess it is the same feeling for them even though they are thousands of miles from their ancestors graves.

[Otaz3307]

interesting because my people Qashqai in Iran believed that tattoos healed joint pain, my grandfather has one on his knee because of it....

[Memoria777]

I've never heard of sewing tats...interesting.

[RMS0180]

@IStayInYoMindSoSnug not that painful like the Polynesian i guessss

[IStayInYoMindSoSnug]

I wonder how that feels compared to the samoan technique?

[cuteIcelandic]

Colin Dale is my mentor in tattooing and in have 3 tattoos by him hi is wery good etit

[LaniMKLo]

lol. The tattoo from Peru looks like Poly tattoos...

some scientists think that Polynesians are originally from the area where Peru is...

[elfbride]

@mungo47 He did. In Hawaii. He got a tribal all the way around his thigh...the old fashioned way.

[elfbride]

@luv4yasutora I agree. I don't have any but my husband has two and they are very personal images for him. I laugh because before I met him I never saw myself with a guy with tats. We've been together nearly 20 years now. Now I'm thinking of something for myself... maybe a little gecko or iguana (I own a five-footer) on my calf.

[SRNF]

lol that old man is getting taroos and that guy is just there asking him the worse questions like DOES IT HURT DUHHHH no shit stfu dumbass lol