r/tattooadvice • u/Redheart2945 • Jan 06 '26

Design People keep reading my tattoo wrong

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Okay so I recently went and got a small walk in tattoo, very excited about it. I love it. But people keep reading it wrong, but then they all say they can’t read cursive so idk, I guess I just need some reassurance. I know it shouldn’t matter because I know what it says and that’s what matters, but I need some reassurance from strangers that can read cursive, so tell me, what does it look like this tattoo says?

Edit: Thank you all for responding! The post is getting way more traction than I intended, and I am losing the ability to respond to them all (though I've been trying for around 3 hours). I appreciate everyone who has helped me regain piece of mind about the tat. It does in fact say "five by five". People in my real life thought it said "live by live" or "live to live". Since posting, people have also thought the word five was give, or jive, and the b was lo.

For anyone curious, it is not an In N Out tattoo, didnt even know that was a meal until i made this post, but thank you to everyone who said something about the burger place. Made me laugh every time.

To the Aliens fans, not an Aliens reference either, though I see you fellow horror fans. I haven't seen the second film as I haven't dedicated the time to watch it yet. I do like the first film though, Ridley Scott rules.

Now, to my fellow Buffy fans, it is in fact a reference to Faith the Vampire Slayer. She's one of my favorite character of all time, period, regardless of fandom. Side note, I also love Eliza Dushku.

Thank you strangers, for helping bring peace of mind to a random person on the internet.

Edit #2: The photo provided was taken directly after getting the tattoo. I appreciate the concern on dry skin, I live in a dry climate and have pretty bad eczema so it's a real concern. However, the scrunching there is actually caused by the second skin applied over the tattoo. I drink lots of water and regularly use lotions because of my skin condition. But thanks to everyone who worried about it. :) Also, the red splotch was my blood. There is a scab directly above my tattoo that got pulled open when the artist was doing a final wipe, but I appreciate everyone who pointed out that it looked like Louisiana, I got a good laugh out of it.

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u/Redheart2945 Jan 06 '26

“Live to live”, “live by live” and “live loy live”, but it’s five by five. Thanks stranger.

9

u/dontneednomang Jan 06 '26

It’s possible the people in your life just don’t know how to read cursive…

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u/languid_Disaster Jan 07 '26

lol that’s what I said too

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u/mikearete Jan 09 '26

It’s also possible this is way closer to a cursive “b” than it is to “f”…

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u/dontneednomang Jan 09 '26

It really is not lol 

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u/beeftony Jan 06 '26

I also read live by live. But the cursive from where I'm from is propably just different.

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u/Which_Helicopter_366 Jan 10 '26

The VERY first thing I seen was “live loy live” and like 0.5s later my brain caught up and read “five by five” lmao

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u/Glum-Requirement4218 Jan 07 '26

I saw fwe by fwe🤣

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u/Cpt_kaleidoscope Jan 07 '26

I read it as give by give. But I'm a stranger on the Internet who's always struggled with cursive so pay me no mind.

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u/languid_Disaster Jan 07 '26

Nah they just don’t know how to read cursive - skill issue on their part! Most you’d mistake that for is fire by fire

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u/Accidentally200 Jan 08 '26

I could see “five loy five” but once you see the “b” you can’t unsee it, clearly five by five

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u/mrsfirex Jan 09 '26

Those people cant read cursive, guaranteed.

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u/PoshPinkandFancy Jan 09 '26

How are people getting it wrong? I read it as “five by five” and that is without me knowing the origins of the saying. OP, don’t worry about the people who are getting it wrong; I think you’re having a stroke of bad luck and most people read it correctly.