聖者であるか. 否、私は罪人である An idea for a tattoo	Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Edit Profile
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Author Message   boli bolon Posted on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 09:08 am:    I wish to do a tattoo and avoid the mistakes of others in this area. My idea is this a qustion and an answer form like so: "Are you a saint" 聖者であるか。 "No, I am a sinner" 否、私は罪人である . It that right as stated the auto translate engine are very bad . I know this means a sinner -person 罪人, and this is no 否 but is the context O K. thanks from advance for any help   Anonymous Posted on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 08:12 am:    It looks alright, but two things that need to be commented on: 否 cannot be used by itself. It's a prefix, like the 'im' in 'impossible'. To say 'no' you should use something like いや or いいえ instead. The concept of 'sin' doesn't exist in Japanese culture, and by extention 'sinner' simply has no exact translation available. The meaning of 罪人 is closer to what we would call a 'criminal'.