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Can you read this Ambigram?

paul.b.davis

paul.b.davis

macrumors 6502
Original poster
So this is a tattoo design that I made, its an ambigram (meaning it can be read upside-down as well)

I am just posting it here to see if anyone can read what it says, since I designed it I cannot look at it without seeing the word

It is in a foreign language (Gaelic) but there are no special characters

The word is Anaithnid

Thanks
 

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Hmm... I think part of the problem may be that in Gaelic there are weird letter combinations that the English-reading brain ain't used to...

I'd guess - although the second half isn't clear to me since the stroke splits after the h into what could be a A or V

Anarithavuil is my best guess but having Googled it, it doesn't come up with any results so I'm guessing it's wrong!
 
ok, so it is supposed to say "Anaithnid" but I gather that a lot of extra letters can be seen there

so, anybody have any ideas as to how I can clean it up?
 
I think most of the confusion stems from the A and the N. The problem is that when looking at it in only one direction, they still look very, very similar. So if we process the first character correctly as A, then we're inclined to process the second one as A.
 
Your problem is that it is in Gaelic. Remember, the human mind can usually parse words together even if the letters are incorrectly ordered as long as the first and last letters look right. I think if you did another word that is more recognizable it wouldn't be so hard. Here's an example of an ambigram I made. I bet you can recognize what it says.

P-Worm
 

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Yeah, it says Daniel. I think with these ambigrams - I've only done 4 myself - it can be near impossible to make it look exactly like what you want, but having a recognizable word helps a lot.

With the word posted at the top, I couldn't figure it out with a hard effort. It'll never be effortless, but some are much easier than others.

I guess it just depends on if you are okay with people not being able to read it. A lot of people get tattoos in foreign characters that only a few can read. If you want everyone to be able to read it, I suggest that you change the word, or find a different way to style the word.

P-Worm
 
I just thought of something else. I have done a few where when oriented one way it says something and if you turn it upside down it says something else. You could pick two words that sort of go together. Something like "Light" one way and "Dark" the other way. Not that you would choose those words, but you might want to consider it.

P-Worm

P.S. Out of curiosity, what does that word stand for?
 
paul.b.davis said:
Thats from angels and demons right?
Click to expand...

0671027352.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


I was rather fond of the original coverart.


EDIT: Oh yeah, and response to the original poster, I think it's extremely difficult for anyone to read a word they don't understand in ambigram format, and I was unable to make it out.
 
Chaszmyr said:
0671027352.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


I was rather fond of the original coverart.


EDIT: Oh yeah, and response to the original poster, I think it's extremely difficult for anyone to read a word they don't understand in ambigram format, and I was unable to make it out.
Click to expand...

Whoa, now that's what I call an ambigram!
 
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