Carpe Diem

http://garbolino.blogspot.com/2005/06/midsummer-in-dalsland.html

Reader Johan emails:

"I recently met a girl with the tattoo 亳 on her arm. She claimed it meant something like 'Carpe Diem'. I've never seen it before and I can't find anything in dictionaries that would support this.
Any idea about it? A picture can be found in this entry in my blog: http://garbolino.blogspot.com/2005/06/midsummer-in-dalsland.html

Thanks for a very entertaining site."

"Carpe Diem" is a Latin phrase that means "seize the day". The character shown in the photo is no where near that meaning. The only two definitions I have found are:

1. name of district in Anhui
2. capital of Yin

As mentioned on Johan's site, "carpe diem" is translated with "及时行乐":

及时 [jíshí] in time; promptly
行乐 [xínglè] seek amusement; make merry

Personally, I don't agree with that definition completely.

Interestly enough, I have seen artwork pieces and shirts designed by Paul Nicholson at Terra Tag that has captured the "carpe diem" theme:



http://www.terratag.com/

The phrase 照等為愚 is loosely translated as "to [rely on] wait[ing] is foolish", which is very similar to what "carpe diem" is trying to express. In my personal opinion, 照等為愚 is the best translation so far for "carpe diem".

The Art of War

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&isbn=0762415983
http://a1204.g.akamai.net/7/1204/1401/04111212011/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/8640000/8644975.jpg

Thanks to several readers for emailing this gem in.

This "The Best Selling Translation" edition of 孫子兵法 (Sun Tzu's Art of War) on Barnes & Noble's website has all the Chinese characters mirrored on the front cover. Since Amazon.com, Borders, and Barnes & Noble all share the same database, similar image can be seen from all three online retailers' websites.

孫子 = Sun Tzu (also commonly written in pinyin: Sūn Zǐ) was the author of The Art of War, an immensely influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy (for the most part not dealing directly with tactics). He is also one of the earliest realists in international relations theory.
兵 = soldier, troops
法 = law, rule, regulation, statute