All FUN 143: Dragon Tiger Tattoo

The word tattoo, or tattow in the 18th century, is a loanword from the Samoan wordtatau, meaning "to strike". The Oxford English Dictionaryprovides the etymology of tattoo as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. FromPolynesian (Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, and so forth.) tatau. InMarquesan, tatu." Prior to the importation of thePolynesian word, the practice of tattooing had been described in the West aspainting, scarring or staining.The etymology of the body modification term is not to be confused withthe origins of the word for the military drumbeat or performance — see military tattoo. In this case, theEnglish word tattoo is derived from the Dutch word taptoe.The 1st written reference to the word tattoo (or tatau)seems in the journal of Joseph Banks (24 February 1743 – 19 June 1820),the naturalist aboard explorer James Cook's ship HMS Endeavour: "I shall nowmention the way they mark themselves indelibly, each of them is so marked by their humour or disposition".[5] The word tattoowas brought to Europe by Cook, when he returned in 1769 from his 1st voyage to Tahiti and New Zealand. In his narrative of the voyage,he refers to an operation referred to as "tattaw".

Tattoo enthusiasts might refer to tattoos as "ink","pieces", "skin art", "tattoo art", "tats" or "work"; to the creators as "tattooartists", "tattooers" or "tattooists"; and to places where they perform as "tattoo shops", "tattoostudios" or "tattoo parlors".Mainstream art galleries hold exhibitions of eachtraditional and custom tattoo designs, such as Beyond Skin, at the Museumof Croydon. Copyrighted tattoo designs that are mass-made and sent to tattoo artists are recognized as"flash", a notable instance of industrial design.[8] Flashsheets are prominently displayed in numerous tattoo parlorsfor the objective of deliveringeach inspiration and ready-produced tattoophotos to customers.

The Japanese word irezumi indicates "insertion of ink"and can mean tattoos employing tebori, theclassic Japanese hand technique, a Western-style machine or any approach of tattooing making use of insertion of ink.The most frequent word employed for traditional Japanese tattoodesigns is horimono. Japanese may possibly use the wordtattoo to mean non-Japanese designs of tattooing.