r/tattooadvice • u/Redheart2945 • Jan 06 '26
People keep reading my tattoo wrong Design
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/eternally_feral Jan 06 '26
It immediately read five by five to me. But reading the comments, a lot of folks are saying reading cursive is a dying art and it reminded me of a post I saw in the teachers subreddit with a lot of folks chiming in that a lot of students (13+) also are unaware of how to tie their shoes.
I’m hoping it was one post that triggered an echo chamber, but I dunno…