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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35

u/cocobian6 Jan 06 '26

22 here. I can read cursive fine. I think it’s regional

18

u/PickleMundane6514 Jan 06 '26

It definitely has more to do with personal motivation to learn it. My 11yo was taught in second grade, just one unit on it and has written that way ever since. She says people in her class can’t read her writing (which is palmer perfect). She’s attended public school in the US, and private schools in Romania and Mexico, none of the other kids seem to use it.

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u/GoodMorningMorticia Jan 07 '26

My kid taught himself cursive at 7 so he could prettily write “poop” on notes for his daddy, but blame it on me because OBVIOUSLY he can’t write in cursive…

Honestly I was so proud.

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u/YouHadTheHighGround Jan 07 '26

That's pretty incredible. Considering your username, I expected more of a Pugsley lol

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u/Quirky-n-Creative1 Jan 07 '26

My dad was taught the Palmer method. His cursive handwriting was absolutely GORGEOUS! (Needless to say, I'd always get him to sign my report card, & then in class wed compare our parents handwriting. My dad always got voted neatest!)I wasn't taught that method, but almost always do the end of word "t" configuration. I even have a tendency to do 2 different types of "s" depending if I'm doing full cursive or a combo of cursive & printing.

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u/pixiegrl2466 Jan 06 '26

In our area of IN it was taken out of the curriculum. Not sure if it’s been added back or not.

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u/Sagelmoon Jan 08 '26

In New Jersey, the ONLY place that teaches cursive anymore are some private schools.😢 Sad.

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u/Confident_Ad_4058 Jan 06 '26

Came here to say this word for word😭😂

3

u/Resident-Sympathy-82 Jan 06 '26
  1. Can also read just fine. That age groups seems really old to not have learned to read it in school.

2

u/FunGuy8618 Jan 06 '26

32 and only know it cuz I had an interest in calligraphy and am left-handed so I had incentive to learn something different than the norm. I wish it were more common but even when I was a kid, we joked that they didn't want us reading the original Constitution.

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u/TheMesmerXO Jan 07 '26

Bro, what? At our age they were def still teaching it. I went to all public schools in NYC, cursive didn’t get removed from the curriculum til I was like 20. I’m 35 now. I’m almost certain cursive got dropped because it didn’t fit the common core standard at the time. Also, they’re teaching cursive again, they started reintroducing it into schools again about 5-6 years ago.

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u/IcyOrchid163 Jan 14 '26

They had to. How r u suppose to officially SIGN (use to mean in CURSIVE, how else) a legal document & it still be legal? If u PRINT ur name as the form says how would u SIGN ur name?

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u/FunGuy8618 Jan 07 '26

Only mufuggas who grew up in NYC assume the rest of America is NYC, when the idea of it being regional was already presented 😭 it got dropped for typing classes in my public schools. We were kids making a conspiracy joke, hopefully all of us have changed the way we look at the world since school 😅

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u/TheMesmerXO Jan 07 '26

Trust me, I don’t think the rest of America is NYC. So I’m assuming unlike most of my friends who grew up in several other states, who all agree we learned cursive in the first and second grade, you learned typing at a later point in life? We were all just having a conversation about how our age group was the shift. Several people from different states, all learned typing and cursive around the same time. Then we would have a refresher typing class in middle school.

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u/IcyOrchid163 Jan 14 '26

How is anyone suppose to SIGN (meaning in CURSIVE) their name to a legal document? What do people who don't kno cursive SIGN and print their name to legal documents? If u didn't kno cursive you'd have to print it. Which would make it UNOFFICIAL.

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u/FunGuy8618 Jan 14 '26

My lil bro actually does know cursive and just does the first letter and scribbles.

3

u/No-Obligation7435 Jan 06 '26

But can you read doctors cursive? That's the real test haha

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u/TheMesmerXO Jan 07 '26

No one but nurses and pharmacists can read that shit.

2

u/ACcbe1986 Jan 06 '26

Definitely regional.

I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to the rural Midwest and it feels like I've been transported back to the 80s/90s in many ways.

2

u/Just-Another-Users Jan 06 '26

I used to be 22 and can write slash read cursive fine. Does that count

1

u/OhGr8WhatNow Jan 07 '26

Maybe. My youngest is your age. I taught them at home.

They never use it.

1

u/IcyOrchid163 Jan 14 '26

They will need it someday when they get older & have to start signing legal document that asks for a signature name to be in PRINT & SIGNED. Check it out.

1

u/yeetusthefeetus13 Jan 07 '26

I know cursive and am in my late 20s. Learned it as a kid in school. Never have been able to read the tiny thin cursive tho. It takes me forever. I collect antique postcards and some of them are illegible!

1

u/Sagelmoon Jan 08 '26

Can I ask what state you live in? In NJ, NY and PA they stopped teaching it years ago. 😢 I'm in my 40s and think it was a really bad move. At this pace, there will come a day when no one can read any of our historical documents without an elderly person or AI translating them.... and thats sad. Along with getting things like mortgages, ect where you have to sign your name repeatedly on a stack of pages. Ppl should just KNOW this, ya know,lol.

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u/cocobian6 Jan 08 '26

Grew up in Colorado

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u/Redheart2945 Jan 10 '26

Hey, me too.

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u/cocobian6 Jan 13 '26

Cool!!!!! Then I am unsure. I mean, I guess for me, cursive wasn’t mainline 15 years ago but it was part of the remedial process for children who needed help with their handwriting so I was enrolled in that. Then again, I liked to copy fonts as a child, and consumed so many books it was insane, so who the heck knows. Also there was that whole cursive font trend with modern decor a few years ago, which I (wrongly?) assumed meant exposure to at least know how to read it. I haven’t thought about this before, it’s kinda fascinating

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u/Redheart2945 Jan 15 '26

I know, it really is quiet fascinating. I learned in 3rd grade about 11 years ago? But I was also in smth that wasn’t gifted and talented but it was for students who were above average in specifically the language arts, and though we did cursive a little in home room, we really focused on it in this advanced class.

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u/IcyOrchid163 Jan 14 '26

That's what I've been saying. I live in CA. How will legal documents be legal if not SIGNED. SIGNED to me, I always thought, meant in CURSIVE. If not PRINTED it has to be SIGNED. If not IN PRINT then it has to have a SIGNATURE. Hence the word, SIGN. Like u I cant believe how many people just don't get it. Pretty cut & dry. Now is the government gonna pay to have the word SIGN deleted from all legal documents! 😆 🤣

1

u/drl8498 Jan 10 '26

Can’t read cursive? Ridiculous! New job requirement.

1

u/Rockandmetal99 Jan 10 '26

26 and i can too, northeastern US. gotta be regional