Is this Chinese?

A friend of mine, who has no access to this forum was wondering if anyone can tell if her tattoo is Chinese and what does it say. She's concerned that she may be going around insulting people. Here is a link to her picture:

http://www.geocities.com/bernadina_q/SL/tattoo.jpg

It's Chinese. The first character (top) is gong, means work, Kung Fu for example.
The second character is ai (pronounced like "eye", which translates to love. Together they don't mean anything. Though it could possibly be a name.

Maybe it's somebody that loves Kung Fu!

Ooooh, I know who it is!:

I have ai tattooed on my right wrist (in real life). I am particularly proud of it, hehe, I get lots of comments on how 'cute' it is

In Japanese kanji it is something to the effect of the Reward(success)--Love.

The kanji are Ko (or Ku)(merits) and Ai. (love)

Thanks everyone. I'll pass this info on. I'm sure she'll be pleased.

/me wonders how many Americans walk around with chinese insults tatooed on themselves?

No charge for awesomeness.

For our Rose Ceremony at 24-7-2008, we are going to have 2 short phrases tattooed in RL. We wanted those to be in Sanskrit, and I came pretty far by using online tools. However, when I had a translator from India take a look at it, they did make some changes.

So if you have something important to you, spend some cash to have someone look at it that knows what they are doing. Things like this are way too important to take a guess at.

Many. My wife is Chinese, and when walking around the relatively small city of Darmstadt in Germany on a warm day with all the young people showing their bare arms, she is amazed by the number of people walking around with Chinese characters on their arms (and elsewhere) that are clearly offensive.

All too often the tattooists choose the characters for their portfolio for their aesthetic appeal, rather than for what they mean.

'I am a shit', is a common one, and provides her with much amusement.

Rock

Anon #1: Hey, nice tattoo, what does it mean?

Anon #2: I don't know, I think it's some deep wisdom though.

Me: It looks like it says "Sweet and sour pork" (^_^)
(Pssst... I don't actually know myself) (=_=)

Anon #2: Oh, really? Wow.

Anon #1: Oh, really? I want to learn Chinese too. Did you take it in college?

Me: Heh... (=_=)y

I heard a story years ago about a tea shop in Hamburg/Germany way back in the 1930s. The shop owner had wished to decorate the shop a little bit in asian style, so he took one of the tea chests and copied some of the signs he found there for the shop sign. Some weeks later a professor of chinese language from the local university came by and immediately started to laugh while standing in front of the shop. The owner went out to ask what was so funny.

The visitor asked him "Do you know what the meaning of the chinese signs on your shop sign is?"
"No idea."
"Well, your sign says 'Double-brewed tea for the damned christian hounds'"

...

As the Italians say: si non e prova, è ben' trovato! (even if it isn't true, it is at least nicely fabricated)....

ROFL! There is nothing half as funny as a bad translation....unfortunatly, there is also nothing that can be more insulting or embarassing. I agree with Marcel, do what you did here and have others take a look who speak the language before you publish or tattoo something. Especially if you want to use a coloquialism or figure of speech.

When Nissan launched their 4 x 4, the Pajero, I wonder which of their branding team got fired for not realising it means "wanker" in Spanish.

Like the Fiat Croma, where Croma is one of the best knows brands of frying butter. Did kinda suit the car though