A few days ago I went and got my first tattoo. I’ve wanted a tattoo for the past four or five years, but could never settle on something that I knew I wanted on my body for the rest of my life.
However, in an article that Marti and I read in New York Magazine lately, the author introduced a phrase that I hadn’t heard before:
Ya’aburnee (Arabic) [ya-BOR-nay] – approximately translates to “you bury me”, meaning that you hope your lover buries you because the idea of living without them is unbearable.
I fell in love with it and have it used ever since as a term of endearment for Marti.
As for tattoos, I knew that I wanted one to commemorate my love for Marti followed by one each for Jack and Ellie.
So, I settled on ya’aburnee for Marti and chose to get it centred at the top of my back. I went to Black Amethyst in St Pete and worked with Earl Noble who is fantastic. Not only is he very talented but he’s very meek and cool: not the kind of personality that you might expect from a tattoo artist, but one that definitely makes me feel at ease.
I’ve definitely got the fever and am eager to find the right tattoo for Jack and Ellie to get those next.
I love the idea of the tattoo and the word you chose. However, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to be the Arabic asshole to point out that there is a slight spelling mistake (one letter). The good news is that it can be easily fixed. You have يعبرني instead of يقبرني so if you make the second letter from the right more circular and add two dots on top, you are golden. Sorry
You’re not the Arabic asshole. You’re the Arabic angel. Thanks for your input!