Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday


Good morning! Time for another edition of Words Wondrous Words on Wednesday! This week, I am posting some words from a book I finished recently, Tattoo Machine. I really enjoyed this one - wild and wooly stories from your local tattoo shop, told by an author who has a real interest in the art and history of the business. In case you're hanging out, waiting to be tattooed, and you want to know what they're talking about, these words might come in handy:

1. Trojan: A solid, business, oriented tattoo artist. A Trojan is never late and never breaks. They always arrive early to get the jump on any surprises. They take the job seriously and can be relied upon to fix any sink, change any lightbulb, or wipe the floor with any scumbag.

2. Tattoo psychosis: A condition that effects some tattoo artists , wherein they become territorial egomaniacs who believe they have divine powers now that they are actually making money doing art.

3. Taco Valve: You've just witnessed your cohort's 1:00 appointment snarf down a jumbo, super-sized fast-food buffet. Shortly, they will be in pain, their body tense, their system racheting into high gear as age-old biological reflexes will kick in. Time to lean in and say "That 'TV' show is coming on at two."

4. Packer: Someone who is concealing something on their medical portion of his or her elease form.

5. Boy butter: The petroleum jelly used in tattoo shops.

6. Night hog: A crappy tattoo artist; the weak link in the chain.

7. Tramp stamp: A tattoo in the center of a woman's lower back.

Okay, there are lots, lots more, but if you want more, you'll need to come back for the review later this week!
What new words did YOU learn this week?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I must say that tattoo words are pretty much all new to me!

Lisa notes... said...

Sounds like a very interesting book! I admit I knew none of the lingo, but if I ever decide to get a tattoo, I'll study that book first so I'll know how to talk about it. :-)

Mercy's Maid said...

I knew tramp stamp, but the others were new to me. :)

bermudaonion said...

Okay, some of those terms are just creepy. Thanks for the education and for participating.

avisannschild said...

I'd never heard of any of these terms!

Memory said...

That's really interesting! I didn't realize tattoo parlors had their own language.

Jo-Jo said...

Wow these are some interesting words...heard of tramp stamp but that's it! I'm going to remember that packer one for sure.

Lisa said...

They are really interesting. The book is a good reminder that specialties like tattooing have their own vocabulary and rules. I'm going to talk more about that in my review.

Jo-Jo, I hadn't really given it much thought, but since tattoo artists are breaking the skin and dealing with blood - as well as the toxic chemicals in the ink, etc. - it can be really dangerous to deal with someone who isn't truthful on their release form.

ibeeeg said...

Very interesting words. There is a whole lingo out there that I was unaware of.

Dave said...

I hope this book comes with a glossary. I don't spend much time in tattoo shops, so I'd be cluleless. Maybe I'll drop a few of those phrases into the conversation at a dinner party and see who perks up.

Mari - Escape In A Book said...

I think I would have been in deep trouble if I stepped inside a English speaking tattoo parlor. These words were all new to me, Trojan made me think about computer virus but that was far from the right definition here.