Lil’ Wayne debuted two new face tattoos this week. On his chin, the Young Money CEO got the Eye of Providence, and along his brow, he got some Arabic lettering. Etched into Weezy’s mug by California tattoo artist Spider, the words on Wayne’s brow were intended to mean “momma’s boy,” only they don’t. According to El Arabiya News, the translation of Lil’ Wayne’s Arabic tattoo doesn’t exactly check out. When analyzed by fluent speakers, the tattoo’s meaning is either inexplicable, or not the phrase the rapper was going for. Several people took to Twitter to comment:
I’m fluent in Arabic and still don’t understand Lil Wayne’s new tattoo. pic.twitter.com/lX5ZJAyhdR
— Nadia (@nadiadaniali) December 23, 2014
Lil Wayne decided to get “Mumma’s Boy” in Arabic over his left eyebrow. Should I be the person to tell him that his tattoo artist messed up?
— Tom Czajka (@TomCzajka) December 22, 2014
advice : Never Use Google Translate to Generate the Text of Your Tattoo 😀
#LilWayne ??? ??? ??????
— Ameronaldo (@amerzahwa) December 23, 2014
Meanwhile, according to a reader comment from our friends over at Stereogum, Lil’ Wayne’s tattoo isn’t that far off. One user wrote that the words inked on his face are “kid” and “my mother,” which kind of makes sense, right?