Me Be

The Tragic Tale of Smelly Sarah

Today's victim, a girl named Sarah, wanted a tattoo of her name in Hebrew, and she wanted to compose it herself.

Sarah knew that Hebrew has no vowels, and her name should be composed of the letters S, R and H. She carefully chose her letters, and ended up with this tattooed in Hebrew on her back:


Well, this is someone's name alright, but it doesn't say "Sarah". Instead, it's this guy's name:
Those of you familiar with the Moomin TV series, will recognize the above critter as Stinky, or in his Hebrew name - Serach.

In fact, both S (Samekh) and H (Het) chosen by Sarah for her tattoo, are the wrong letters. The result can be read several ways, all of them describing stench. The proper letters for the name Sarah, as written in the old testament, are Shin and He.

Sarah's Hebrew tattoo is especially unfortunate, so let that be a lesson to you all. Never tattoo something on your body without confirming it first with a native Hebrew speaker. Disaster might be waiting right around your corner.

We've actually covered the name Sarah before, but here's a repeat. This is how you properly write Sarah in Hebrew: