to tell my colleague she acted like a bitch and should apoligise?

[Climbingthewalls12]

Obviously a little more tactfully. And really WIBU rather than AI.

One of my work mates has a tattoo reading something in Latin along the lines of Love always endures, followed by his daughter's birth date. It obviously means a lot to him and he like to show it off. Another colleague today said really loudly in front of everyone that the word order is technically incorrect and why would he do that as he is anal about other things etc. He was obviously very hurt by her remarks but she just kept on about how she has a degree in latin and can't believe he was so stupid.

IMO it doesn't matter, he loves it and its a bit late now isnt it so I pulled her aside, had been a part of the convo not just butting in, and said I thought she should apologise. For this I got a fair bit of shit from other peopl. But really WIBU?

I'm with your colleague

Well done to you for standing up for this poor man.

If she had doubts as to the veracity of the tattoo she should have kept quiet and caught him alone later.

In front of all was vicious unnecessary and could in a workplace be deemed intimidating or bullying. As a colleague you can complain as you witnessed it.

You'd think that if you are going to mark yourself with a statement that will be visible to others for the rest of your life you would ensure that the grammar and spelling were correct.

However, the colleague that pointed out the error just sounds like an unpleasant person who likes making others feel small.

In her shoes I might well find it amusing and tell people who had no possible connection to this man, but I'd keep my mouth shut at work. Unprofessional.

She should butt out. What is he supposed to do about it now?! What a smartarse she is.

I don't think you should have told her to apologise. Perhaps mentioning that he was upset, would have been ok. But once she said it, it was too late to unpoint it out. Although if I was her I wouldn't have said anything about it.

I assume he is a grown up and of he is upset he should speak to her.

Minnie bullying? Really?

Only on MN.

Keep out of it...it's between them

I'm unsympathetic to him really. If you get a tattoo and show it off at work you're open to criticism. Plus he should have researched the correct translation.

she's not a smartarse for being educated (what a playground attitude!) BUT she is rude for pointing this out, as there really is nothing to be done.

getting tattoos in a language that you don't speak is always going to go wrong. Ask David Beckham.

Often in Latin words can go in different orders in a sentence and still make sense. So, for example, alia iacta est OR iacta alia est (what Julius Caesar said when he crossed the Rubicon) are both commonly quoted and both mean the same thing. It's one of the joys/challenges of Latin.

So your colleague is not only horrible, she's also quite possibly wrong.

YWNBU I agree with Minnie and Tabliope.

It is bullying if you attempt to publically deride or embarrass someone, making them feel like shit (not like he can fix the error, is it). She should have said nothing or, if she wanted to stick her nose in something that isn't her business, she could have had a private word with him. But no, that wouldn't have fed her desire to be a supercilious twonk, would it?

She was being a bitch. Special, I disagree, she is not a smartarse for knowing Latin, she is a smartarse for lording her knowledge to humiliate this guy and belittle something he holds dear. How nasty to try to ruin something like this for him. Jon, really? Ffs, this is a precious tribute to his child, so really, a suitable subject for criticism?. For fuck, fick sake
Op well done for saying something and for having a heart.

It wasn't really between them seeing as it was about a 4way conversation and initially it was me he was showing the tattoo to.

I'm hoping it was just a bit tactless as she is generally an ok girl, other than having the most ridiculous morals (e.g. veggi down to not wearing silk, boycotting the Olympics because it's eliteism etc.)

Soggy I was sure that was the case and said so at the time but was told very abruptly that I obviously don't speak latin, which is true but..

Ffs, this is a precious tribute to his child
A tattoo? Really?

I think someone who needs to loudly announce how clever and educated they are at someone else's expense is probably a bit insecure themselves.

I hate tattoos with poor grammar, spelling, or immaculate translation. I would never dream of publicly 'making an example' of somebody's cherished work like that though.

Ha OP you were right. I wish I'd been there too!

Doesn't really matter what you or anyone else thinks Jon at the end of the day it means something special to the person who has that and so is a special tribute in that respect.

But not special enough to have researched the correct translation?

Reminds me of the TBBT episode

Sheldon: Why do you have the Chinese character for "soup" tattooed on your right buttock?
Penny: It's not "soup," it's "courage."
Sheldon: No it isn't. But I suppose it does take courage to demonstrate that kind of commitment to soup.

Eh

Stupid phone. Sorry. What should it be then? Can't it just be whatever he likes?

As one poster said previously its quite possible that it was actualy correct, not that I could tell you but tbh IMO it could be utter gobblldygook and it wouldn't matter.

Haha LOVE TBBT!

I imagine it was amor vincit omnia - in which case it doesn't matter as far as I'm aware as the syntax can be changed? Could be wrong.