10+ Stories About Tattoos That Are Like Nightmares Printed on Skin

For those who love to use their bodies as a canvas, a tattoo would hardly seem like a bad idea. However, between idea and execution, many things can stray from the original plan. Reddit user Sorceress683 took it upon herself to investigate the biggest mistakes tattoo artists have ever made, and the responses she got did not disappoint.

• I was a receptionist at a tattoo shop. One of the artists misspelled “neighborhood” on this guy’s neck. He spelled it “neigborhood,” leaving out the first “H.” Neighborhood was the guy’s nickname. It was a pretty large, elaborate tattoo, so there was no fixing it. But the guy was surprisingly really cool about it. He ended up making the artist tattoo an “H” on his palm so if anyone gave him shit about the misspelling, he could smack that person with the missing “H.” © eccoothedolphin / Reddit
• My ONLY spelling mistake ever was in Italian. I don’t speak Italian. She’s hysterical and tells me I spelled it wrong. I asked what she wanted to do, and she decided, “Eh, no one I know speaks Italian.” That was about 15 years ago — I often wonder if she ended up getting it covered up. © Zornamental / Reddit
• A guy came in for a full back piece of 3 different cars. It took like 4 visits to finish, and on each visit, he’d look at it and say it looks awesome, and then he would take off. On the last visit, they called me in to look at it to show me how awesome it turned out. Well, all the steering wheels were on the wrong side, and the reason no one caught it was because the guy was looking in the mirror to check his progress, so they looked correct. © JoshSidekick / Reddit

• I had a client who decided he wanted lettering on his forearms, sayings in Greek and Hebrew. He doesn’t speak either language, but he had one of his friends double-check the spelling before he sent the references to me. Fast forward to a couple of weeks later. I got a message from him saying that his Israeli employees were giving him a hard time because the tattoo was spelled wrong. The font he had chosen from a quick google search essentially changed a couple of the letters, making it a completely different word. We ended up being able to fix it pretty easily and had a good laugh about it, but definitely be cautious when you’re getting tattoos in a language you and your artist don’t speak! © Isabump / Reddit
• I didn’t mess up, but I had a client scare me. I was tattooing his sister’s name on him (she passed away). “Gabriela” with 1 (L) in it. Past the point of no return, he asks me, “There are 2 Ls, right?” I think I had a heart attack, and he started laughing. He thought it was hilarious. I died a little and pretended to laugh. © tinawww / Reddit
• A few years ago, I was tattooing a client who had apparently lost a bet, so his buddies were allowed to tattoo something behind his shoulder. The guy drew a design of “A Leprechaun throwing up on a book.” Everyone was sober, and they were paying upfront. Turns out everyone liked it... Except for the guy getting the tattoo of a Leprechaun throwing up on a book. So he came in about 10 days later, demanding a refund. I was told NEVER to tattoo anyone like that. It only works in television series or films. © Mars_The_68thMedic / Reddit

• A girl came to get a heart tattoo with her boyfriend, but he kept complaining about the price. The tattoo artist was so fed up he said, “If you do the tattoo, it’s free.” The young man took the machine, and after some time, his girlfriend left with a potato on her skin. © dankboipablo / Reddit
• My ex made a big mistake on a client’s abdomen. The client had brought in a piece of paper with the stylized word “preserverence.” I was invited in mid-way to see the progress and had to tap my ex on the shoulder for a spelling lesson. © Unknown user / Reddit
• This happened when everybody used to get Asian symbols tattooed on them. There was this couple in the waiting room, and the girlfriend was Asian. Across from her was a guy with symbols down his calf. She then asks him, “What do you think it says on your leg?” He proceeds to say, “I love my mother.” She starts laughing and tells him that the true translation is “I love horses.” © louiscypher8 / Reddit

• A client emailed me asking for a four-letter acronym, so I put the letters into a font generator and sent him back some options. He picked the one he liked best, and we set an appointment date. Midway through the tattoo, I asked him what the letters stood for, and he told me. My heart stopped. The letters were in the wrong order. I spent the rest of the session covering them up. © ALasagnaForOne / Reddit
• I’ve never really made any big mistakes that garnered a reaction, but one of my clients has a tattoo from another artist in a local studio that says “Gradad” instead of Grandad. © mt995 / Reddit
• I once had a client call the shop who was crying hysterically because, according to her, I had done her tattoo backward. It took a few minutes to get her to calm down to the point where we realized she was looking at it in a mirror. She apologized and hung up. © willieyobslayer / Reddit