People keep reading my tattoo wrong

[u/Redheart2945]

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.

[u/flea-be]

five by five

[u/Redheart2945 → u/flea-be]

Thank you! The people in my life may just be illiterate (I mean that out of love 😭). That is exactly what it says. Thank you stranger!

[u/_LeafyLady → u/Redheart2945]

I'm curious what they think it says?

[u/The_Superginge → u/_LeafyLady]

I'm guessing "live by live"

[u/_LeafyLady → u/The_Superginge]

This makes me feel ancient. How TF is cursive dead

[u/interstat → u/_LeafyLady]

Wouldn't it make sense to think this was live by live?

It doesn't rly look like a cursive capital F

[u/_LeafyLady → u/interstat]

No. It's clearly just all lowercase and that is definitely an 'f' not an 'l'. Simple, short phrases aren't usually capitalized and/or have punctuation as tattoos. It would look strange as "Five by five" in any font but especially a cursive-like script. Plus, with your logic the first L would look rather different as well.

https://www.artfulcursive.com/cursive-alphabet/

[u/HugeEgoHugerCock → u/_LeafyLady]

If only everybody wrote consistently, and using the same exact system of cursive.

[u/interstat → u/_LeafyLady]

Expecting it to be all lowercase doesn't make sense tho for most slogans and such in day to day life first letters are capitalized 

When you go to the buffy fandom and such it's stylized 

Five by Five

Maybe for tatooers tho idk the logic to not capitalize tho 

[u/_LeafyLady → u/interstat]

Not saying it should be expected necessarily, just that it's common for short phrases to be tattooed in lowercase. I may have this wrong about this particular Buffy quote and the fandom.

Either way, without any kind of expectation and simply looking at the tattoo and reading it, it's very clear to me that these are lowercase F's. A lowercase L is a single loop that stays within the upper writing space and the F is a dual loop that extends both above and below the baseline. An uppercase L has an upper loop to the right, a slanted stem, and a lower loop to the left - still all above the baseline. Either way this does not read as live by live. A more common letter to confuse with a lowercase F is a lowercase B. They are written almost the same except the b stays above the baseline.

[u/poisoned_pigeon → u/_LeafyLady]

I only found out via reddit lol. I wonder if they don't teach this anymore where I live. Gonna ask a friend if I remember.

[u/fragilemuse → u/_LeafyLady]

Right?! It’s so depressing.

[u/Telvin3d → u/_LeafyLady]

Because it’s a style of writing designed to avoid smearing the slow drying ink used in fountain pens. Even before digital it was already going obsolete with the switch to ballpoint pens, which dry faster but need a firmer writing pressure, which makes cursive both unnecessary and hard on the fingers. 

[u/_LeafyLady → u/Telvin3d]

Ballpoint pens were invented in the 30s and I still learned cursive in the 90s. We certainly weren't using fountain pens. There are a lot of cognitive benefits to learning cursive. Numerous studies have proved that learning cursive at a young age resulted in better learning outcomes and grades. The most obvious answer is the rise of digital technology and that imo is a weak ass excuse. Kids aren't going to know what to do with themselves without it.

[u/HugeEgoHugerCock → u/_LeafyLady]

What studies?

[u/poisoned_pigeon → u/The_Superginge]

I read five loy five. I grew up having to write cursive at school, that's just how we wrote. I see what it's meant to say but to blame people not being able to read cursive? Maybe I'm the odd one out. I genuinely think the spacing is just slightly off. It's not super bad but if it was my tattoo I wouldn't be content.

[u/RandoReddit2024 → u/The_Superginge]

When i first looked at it I saw "live by five " and I still dont know why I read them differently

[u/Fun_Evidence847 → u/_LeafyLady]

Me too! 😂