Words commonly used in tattoo parlors
After care: What you do with your tattoo once
you get home.
Apprentice: Someone who is learning to tattoo
Art: What your tattoo should be. Why do some
people spend more time picking out their wall art
then they do their body art?
Autoclave: A machine used to sterilize tattoo
equipment.
Backroom: A dirtbag's work place. (see
scratcher)
Blackwork: A tattoo done only in shades of
black and grey.
By Appointment Only: Translation: Don't just
show up at the studio.
Body: SEE CANVAS
Bodysuit:Complete coverage of the body with
tattoos.
Bold:A design that makes a strong graphic
statement.
Call Ahead:An important step if your artist
works by appointment only.
Canvas: The client.
Carve: Scary slang for tattooing.
Clean: A technically perfect tattoo. (solid
linework and color)
Color: Perky pigments. (see also
Solid)
Coverup: A new, hopefully better, tattoo that
gets placed over an existing and unwanted
one.
Custom: A tattoo designed especially for
you
Dermagraphics: Art on the skin
Done: What you really want to hear the
tattooist say after you spent a few hours getting
tattooed.
Epidermis: The outer layer of the
skin.
Explosions: Splotchy, uneven lines in a
tattoo.
Fall Out: Rapid Fading, usually of color, of
a new tattoo due to improper application. (see
scratcher)Fall out can also refer to the fading of
any tattoo. Besides improper application, the usual
cause is age, or improper aftercare. It can also
occur when a tattoo is placed on a body part that
does not hold ink well, i.e. inside lip, bottom of
foot.
Fineline: A tattoo done single needle style.
Does not have the heavy black outline of traditional
tattoo work.
Flash: Pre-drawn designs that often hang on
the walls of a tattoo shop.
Gloves: Disposable medical style hand wear
that should be used by tatooist during thetattoo
installation.
Gun: A tattoo machine. (or a tool that
assists in bill collection.)
High Energy: "New Style" tattooing, often
based on classic comic graphic styles, but can refer
to any tattoo work that is bold and colorful.
Homes: An affectionate form of greeting used
by a small group of tattooists. (you guys know who
you are!)
Holidays: Skips (bare patches) in the color
of a tattoo.
Ink: The pigments placed into the skin during
the tattoo process.
Idiot: Someone who gets tattooed by a
scratcher.
Itch: What your new tattoo does besides
scab.
Jailhouse: A style of tattooing that was
developed by inmates and was the root of blackwork.
Can be used in a derogatory sense to refer to a
tattoo that lacks sophisication or was badly
applied. Also called Joint style.
Kinky: What most non-tattooed people think
tattooed people are.
Lines: They should be straight and
consistant.
Love: (See Vow.)
Mush: A tattoo that has lost
definition.
Naked: Skin without tattoos.
Name: See Vow (also see coverup)
Needle: The sharp pointy thing that connects
you and your tattooist.
Old School: Tattooist who served a
traditional appenticeship and adhere to the tattoo
world's traditional codes of behavior.
Oriental: A style of tattooing that is
carefully thought out and utilized the entire body,
as opposed to the western method of arbitrary pieces
scattered about on the skin with no overall plan.
Often incorporates swirling patterns and imaginary
from Japenese mythology.
Ointment: Creams used during the aftercare
process. (see Itch)<
Parasite: (See Scratcher).
Portrait: A photo-realistic reproduction
tattoo of your favorite person or beast.
Primative: Relating to early times or
original state of something.
Quiet: What you should be while you're
getting a tattoo.
Rate: What your artist will charge you for
your tattoo. Attempting to reduce the rate will only
result in a twisted tattooist.
Readable: A tattoo that is easily
decipherable from a distance.
Realistic: A true to life tattoo
piece.
Rebuff: A abrupt refusal. Which is what will
happen if you attempt to lower the artist's prices
(see Rate) or come into the studio
intoxicated.
Scratcher: A person who attepts to tattoo,
despite the fact that he or she has no knowledge of
technique or sterilization procedures. Strangely
enough, scratchers often believe that they are God's
gift to the tattoo world.
Skin: (See Canvas).
Skips: Breaks in the lines or uneven color in
a tattoo.
Stencil: A pattern, often made of acetate,
used to transfer a design onto the skin.
Sterile: Free from disease causing germs. All
equipment used to tattoo should either be disposed
of after one use or sterilized by autoclave.
Style: Particular genre of tattooing; such as
Tribal, Traditional, etc.
Solid: What your tattoo should be: when
referring to color it means a tattoo with no patchy
areas or skips. Also used to refer to a technically
perfect tattoo.
Tat: Pet name for skin art.
Tacked Back: Heavily tattooed.
Traditional: A style of tattooing that
utilizes bold black outlines, strong black shading
and bright primary colors.
Tribal: Bold, black, silhouette style
designs.
Underground: A tattooist who is unable to
work openly, often due to legislation banning
tattooing in their area.
Vow: A vow tattoo is a design that
incorporates a name or slogan ("Mom", "Betty
Sue","Harley Davidson"). Most coverups are placed
over vow tattoos.
Wow: This is what your "Mom" tattoo says when
you're standing on your head.
Xerophthalmia: A disease that causes abnormal
dryness of the eyeballs. (So sue me, I couldn't
think of any X words!)
Yow: Exclamation made by someone who is
getting a tattoo on their ribcage.
Yuppies: An annoying group of people who have
recently decided that tattoos are cool.
Zero Hour: The time of your appointment for
your first tattoo.
