The one recurring comment we get from our global band of merry Lingo-ists (in layperson’s terms, someone who works for Lingo24...) is that no two days are the same.

There is always something that turns up – it could be a minor mishap, or a challenging quandary – to make each day stand out from all the others. And for the most part, this is something that we revel in as it keeps us on our toes and ensures nobody is ever bored.

Indeed, our core function and general raison de être is to translate. And whilst many of our translations are standard business documents such as brochures, websites and other materials of a similar ilk, we also get some not-so-standard translation requests too.

We’ve been asked to translate speeches for weddings, funerals and corporate functions. And we’ve also been asked to translate mottos for football clubs, societies and other organisations requiring their brand message to be understood by the wider world.

But among the more unusual requests we have had is for tattoos. However, it may not be all that unusual if you really think about it. If there’s any translation you really can’t afford to mess up, it’s a tattoo.

As much as any organisation would baulk at the thought of any of their client-facing material being the subject of a translation ‘faux-pas’, at least they can always rectify it, issue an apology to any offended parties and ensure they always use a professional translation service in future.

With a tattoo however, there really is no cutting corners. Back in 2007 there was the story of a gentleman in the UK who – 26 years previously – had asked a waiter in his local Chinese restaurant to write his name in Chinese symbols.

The waiter either had a very cruel sense of humour or he simply misunderstood the request. The man in question subsequently had a tattoo of ‘Coca-Cola’ emblazoned across his chest for over a quarter of a century!

But coming back to the main point of this post, the old adage ‘variety is the spice of life’ couldn’t be truer for Lingo24. And we certainly wouldn’t want it any other way...