...if I don't tell my friend that her tattoo is spelt wrong?

[Nessalina]

Just that really!
A friend has posted a picture on Facebook of her new tattoo and there is a word spelt wrong! I won't say what for fear of outing, but it's got two extra letter in by accident
No one has noticed that's posted on Facebook, and I've checked that it's not a prank (no google images of the same picture) so I think it's an honest mistake.
But... I can't see that me telling her would be helpful, I mean, it's permanent! There isn't a pretty way to fix it, and surely someone else will notice and tell her? Right?
I'm such a coward

But in her head, it's ok. Right up until the OP tells her... I think the OP could run the risk of shoot the person who can spot a glaringly obvious typo messenger.

I wouldn't tell her. She'll find out sooner rather than later. She may not care. If she does care, she'll feel even worse if she thinks everyone else had noticed. Better for her if she thinks that it's not obvious

The punctuation is wrong. 'Personality which captures the heart' is not an independent clause.

Just to add to the pedantry.

Although maryz link doesn't whack in a poorly thought through semi-colon. I bet plenty of tattoos feature it.

My students seem to think a semi-colon is a comma you use when you want to be a bit fancy and look clever. Sadly, they achieve the opposite.

I love that this has become a grammar debate!!
OK, I give in! Maryz you were closest, but there's no which/that issue, the quote used is this one!
I've linked so this thread isn't searchable no idea if that works

How can she possibly not know that's wrong? surely her mum/partner/5 year old child will tell her?

I'd have to if she was a friend of mine.Jesus, how thick can a tattooist be?!

My brother though went to a shit place for Leeds utd putting on his chest (I know I know) He spelt it Leeds udt. Urgh.

At least she's not sporting incorrect punctuation as well as misspelling. There's always a bright side.

It sucks, because it's a lovely quote. To be fair, it being spelt wrong (as another friend pointed out) lends it an ironic edge. It's the meaning not the look that's important... right?

She needs to be told, if only so she can delete the FB post and avoid further embarrassment. This. You need to tell her to stop others laughing at her behind her back.

If you want more pedantry OP (and you know you do): quotation is the noun; quote is the verb.

I'll stop now. I promise.

That's an awful quote. I'd suggest to her that the WHOLE THING is rubbish, not merely that it says 'capturures'. That might take the edge off the spelling mistake mightn't (n't) it?

I know I'm a really bad person but... Hahahahahahahahaha

< really hate tattoos >

It's a terrible quote so it doesn't really matter that it is spelt wrong. I would suggest she gets the whole thing removed and never goes near a tattooist again.

Aw Maryz I can't let that go without comment. I'm sure you have both beauty and personality

It's also not true. Beauty is (supposed to be) a virtue, but personality can be both good or bad. It's sometimes a euphemism for 'a bloody nightmare'.

She won't thank you for pointing out how thick she is.

My favourtie mis-spelling of a tatoo is

"no regerts"

still makes me smile! you really do need "no regerts" (should be regrets) with a tatoo like that

Oh that is hilarious!

someone i once knew had "your a long time dead" on her arm (classy).

my lovely tattooist who is fabulous always always prints out what's going to be tatted first (if possible) otherwise he spell checks EVERYTHING. although the you're/your thing wouldn't really show up i suppose.

The MNers earlier today were much kinder! It's like the grumpy crew have arrived home from work...

Just to be clear, I'm not a big fan of tattoos myself, but I am a big fan of my friend. She doesn't deserve to be mocked because this isn't her fault! Yes, you can extrapolate that she was silly to get a tattoo and so this serves her right in some way, but that's not really the point!

Imagine it's not a tattoo, but some other important personal endeavour, like having a book published with a page missing or a key word spelt wrong, but it's already gone national - if it was you, would you want to know?!

Imagine Michaelangelo had finished painting the Sistine Chapel, after four years hard work. His back's buggered, and the scaffolding has come down, then some smart sod steps up and says "Oi Mike, I didn't know God had six fingers!". He'd get knocked out. Right?

I'm still laughing my head off at no regerts

Tell her in a private message. Imagine all her FB friends are all saying "I'm sure someone will tell her" and then not doing. If it can't be fixed, can it be removed? Would the tattoo artist's insurance pay for that? It's their mistake after all, would be terrible publicity for them if she went public with them misspelling her tattoo...