# I can not understand the meaning



## ttuhin123

please someone tell me the meaning of this tattoo.Thanks in advance


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## sotos

"They refuse to be sunk"
The first impression is that it is grammatically wrong, as the "sunk" (βυθιστεί) is singular. Unless the meaning is "they refuse (that something) be sunk"


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## ireney

Actually it is ungrammatical no matter how you see it I'm afraid. If it was "they refuse to let something be sunk" or something similar that something should be mentioned there. There's no example of a correct phrase in Greek where such a construction (vb pl + vb in subjunctive acting as an object in singular) can be considered correct Greek. A real bummer since we're talking about a tattoo but there you go.


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## Nikolaos_Kandidatos

ireney said:


> Actually it is ungrammatical no matter how you see it I'm afraid. If it was "they refuse to let something be sunk" or something similar that something should be mentioned there. There's no example of a correct phrase in Greek where such a construction (vb pl + vb in subjunctive acting as an object in singular) can be considered correct Greek.



Why so, if the subject of the subordinate clause is clear from the context? Imagine the following dialogue: 

-Λοιπόν οι μαφιόζοι τι θέλουν να γίνει με το πλοίο;
-Θέλουν να βυθιστεί. Κανόνισέ το.

Is the reply grammatically wrong? If not, it could be detached from its context to become a tattoo, albeit one decipherable only to the "initiated".


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## ireney

Yes, my mistake. I meant an sentence, not a phrase. It can definitely stand as an sentence with an ellipsis as your example but not one that conveys the meaning it is supposed to in context.


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## Nikolaos_Kandidatos

In that case we cannot say the tattoo is ungrammatical, just obscure as to its meaning. Think of riddles or modern poetry or Chomsky's "colourless green ideas sleep furiously" - completely grammatical but semantically insane. Although I too agree it is not impossible that someone simply wanted to write αρνούνται να βυθιστούν and made a mess of it.


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## cougr

My guess is that it's an automated translation of the not uncommon tattoo motto "refuse to sink".


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## Nikolaos_Kandidatos

cougr said:


> My guess is that it's an automated translation of the not uncommon tattoo motto "refuse to sink".



Aaand we have a winner - I tried google translate and indeed it gives the exact same botched translation.


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