Everyone wants their tattoo to be unique, even if they don’t have a solid grasp on what it should actually look like. This often means that people will get the most bizarre things inked on their bodies without really doing their homework.
Someone asked “What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen tattooed on someone?” and netizens shared the worst examples they have encountered. We also got in touch with the person who asked the question in the first place. So get comfortable, prepare to feel some intense second-hand embarrassment as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and share your own thoughts and experiences.
#1
It’s not dumb. But it’s silly. A friend has a gluten and dairy intolerance. And they have an angry slice of Bread and an angry milk carton on them.
#2
They had a tattoo of a compass and said “ I got it done so it’s always showing true north”. I asked, wouldn’t that change depending on what direction you’re facing? He said no true north is always the same. I tried explaining what I meant and they couldn’t understand.
Image credits: w4rlok94
#3
I've got 2. Both were while working in surgery.
First woman apologized for her tattoos before going under anesthesia. She's asleep, we get her positioned (it was a vaginal procedure) and right on top of her mons pubis was EAT FRESH. And yes, it was even in the Subway font.
Second, woman had lost a bunch of weight and was getting a tummy tuck. She had this weird tattoo of a s****y little cartoon cowboy on her lower abdomen/hip. By the time the surgeon had cut off all the excess skin and sewed her back up, all that was left was the hat.
Image credits: _C00TER
Bored Panda got in touch with the netizen who posted the question online and they were kind enough to answer some of our questions. First and foremost, we wanted to know if there was some story that prompted them to pose this question to the internet.
“I was just watching a Kurtis Conner video on YouTtube and he has a lot of silly tattoos so it made me think of posting that,” they shared. After all, the internet is full of people sharing the most baffling tattoos they have ever seen, so it’s clearly a pretty popular topic. Indeed, we’ve covered it as well in the past.
#4
Anyone who gets Trump, Biden, or Harris. In any form whatsoever. (Though let's be honest, one of these is a *lot* more common than the other two.)
If you base your entire personality on a politician, you should be kept away from any place involving a needle that isn't administered by a certified medical professional.
#5
A local tattoo artist had a guy come in and ask for a white power tattoo. He tattooed him across his back with "white powder". Dude got ticked off. Artist was like "Sorry, I misheard you." There was a legal battle, several months long. The dude sued for the tattoo artist to pay for the removal. He refused to go get it done out of pocket so he walked around with that tattoo for 4 months and some change. He was one of those dudes that only wears wife beaters all summer, so he had to wear an actual t-shirt just to keep it covered. Was hilarious, and worth the price of removal the tattoo artist had to pay.
Image credits: zorggalacticus
#6
Did some training with a group of people.
One girl has a Chinese tattoo on the back of her neck.
Chinese girl in the class saw it and laughed.
Conversation came about how the wearer thought it said "Strength"
What it said was "Simplified Chinese".
Image credits: Hiding_From_Stupid
The thread itself ended up being quite popular, so we wanted to know if they had any ideas as to why it attracted so many folks. “As for the success of the thread, I think it just aligned well with the Ask Reddit algorithm, since it was a short answer question and people love to talk about absurd things they’ve seen/experienced.”
#7
My youngest brother's girlfriend has her children's names tattooed on her. No issue with that. It's the fact that her youngest son has his name misspelled (Braidon instead of Brandon). When I asked her about it, she said she had no idea how to spell her son's name. Just... Wow.
Image credits: Ohnoherewego13
#8
A couple of guys I knew at Basic Training got "Your Name" tattooed on their butt cheeks so that they could go up to random people and say "Hey, I got your name tattooed on my a*s" then pull down their pants.
Image credits: Visual-Lobster6625
#9
"Only God Can Judge Me" as we stood in court, before a judge, because he shoved his way into my apartment and SA'd me.
Looks like the judge can judge you., too, bud.
Last but not least, we also wanted to hear if they had any favorite examples from the post. “My personal favorite was the girl who tattooed a nipple on her ass because I unfortunately have the sense of humor of a teenage boy,” they shared with Bored Panda. If this wasn’t enough, or you want to see some actual images of terrible tattoos, check out our other articles on the topic.
#10
I have a flame tattooed on the inside of my bicep, it sometimes peeks out if I move my arm away from my body a bit. If anyone asks, it's my concealed fire arm.
I also have "Don't Panic" on my back. Coincidentally, I had a panic attack and nearly passed out while getting it.
#11
When all of the Latin sayings were a big deal with my friends I got “SEMPER UBI SUB UBI” tattooed. It means always wear underwear. It’s a latin pun. It’s very dumb and frankly I don’t regret it.
Image credits: Soft_Delivery_3889
#12
Saw a lady at the gym once sporting music notes all over her body and the stems were on the wrong sides of the notes (I am a music teacher so it hurt my soul).
#13
Saw a girl with 魚 tattooed on her shoulder who swore up and down it meant poison... It means fish.
Image credits: RadiantSymphony
#14
When I worked at Electronics Boutique back in the 90s, there was this one redneck lady who would come in like once a month with a different redneck beau. And on her left arm she had tattooed the names dudes with the previous one crossed out -- and yep each time she came in with a new dude there was a new name.
Image credits: wilkc
#15
My neighbor tattooed a ruler on his arm, but it’s not to scale.
#16
“Love me or hate me just EXCEPT me” instead of “accept.”
Not one single person she showed afterward caught the mistake and I didn’t have the heart to point it out.
Image credits: karmagill
#17
A man got a food company’s logo tattooed on his forehead for a cash prize, only to find out it was an April Fools’ Day prank.
Image credits: NothingOk648
#18
My exs family all went to Thailand for a family holiday and decided to get matching tattoos. They asked for the word family in Thai. They were all so excited until they got back and a Thai friend of mine explained to them that it says Hand bag.
Image credits: anon
#19
The virgin Mary cradling a loaf of wonderbread in her arms.
Image credits: Spuzzle91
#20
Someone at work has a braille tattoo on their fore arm. it's not raised. it's just dots. You can't feel any raises. And it says "Good Vibes" in braille. Why? Because you don't see good vibes, you feel them.
#21
A librarian with "Due Date" tattooed on her wrist.
#22
Met a girl who has a tramp stamp that says "Only God Can Juge Me". Apparently her God can't spell.
#23
Chick I know debated between her own name and her kids name on her forearm, she chose her own name.
Image credits: Prollynotafed
#24
NO REGERTS.
#25
I saw an unfortunately unattractive guy in Vegas that had his own nearly life-size portrait tattooed on his shoulder. The tattoo looked just like the ugly MF.
#26
Colleague walked into work last Monday with "England European champions 2024" tattooed on his leg.
Image credits: p4ttl1992
#27
Saw a crossword puzzle tattoo, but the clues didn't match the answers.
#28
An arrow pointed at his shoulder that was labeled “cry here.”.
Image credits: Daigon
#29
I once saw a guy with "Tattoo" tattooed in a stencil font on his bicep. It was very meta — but also a dumb joke.
#30
A man had a full sleeve of satanic imagery and had no clue what any of it meant he just wanted to p**s off his Christian manager.
Image credits: Vexonte
#31
I have my own feet tattooed “L” and “R” for left and right.
#32
I had a friend in high school who got a very brightly colored burning american flag on his neck with the phrase next to it "Burn Baby, Burn!" This was in TX in the mid-90's. When he showed me after getting it, I was like, damn, bold move, man, you're gonna regret that s**t. Ran into him years later and he'd become a straight edge and a pastor. First thing I said was "well, regret that tat yet?" He just said he does indeed have to explain himself alot.
#33
"Soup of the day" tattooed on a chef’s arm.
#34
Guy i used to work with had the word "nothing" in arabic. So when someone asked what it says he would say nothing. It made him feel smart because he was answering them but also it seemed like he didnt to say what it said so he replied with nothing.
#35
I knew a guy who lucked into $70k. Got "pay up" as knuckle tattoos, but had the "up" as a dollar sign that was also an up arrow in the middle of the S instead of just this $. So that symbol with an up arrowhead at the top.
Everybody read it as "pays up" when he showed them and he had to have the whole S covered. Now it says pay on 3 fingers and has an arrow sign almost as thick as his f*****g finger.
He had to move back in with his mom after 6 months.
#36
Saw a girl with nipples on her a*s.
#37
Saw a dude with a Honda logo tatted on his neck.
Image credits: Mick_Jagger_94
#38
Back in 1990 when tats were so not mainstream, I met a dude covered in all sorts of bad tats (bad taste and quality). The worst was Woody Woodpecker sitting on a toilet reading a newspaper. He said it was political, but I forget exactly how.
#39
A QR code.
#40
Met someone with "Made in USA" and a barcode underneath.
Image credits: Sure_Combination8852
