# Unknown Language: بف بيرا



## jakeroberts19

Im trying to get the interpretation of this tatoo as no one has been able to so far.


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## Abaye

Isn't it "beer buff" in Arabic letters, word order hyper-corrected, slang for one who drinks special beer kinds (I think)?


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## jakeroberts19

Abaye said:


> Isn't it "beer buff" in Arabic letters, word order hyper-corrected, slang for one who drinks special beer kinds (I think)?


Someone mentioned this but the person says its a swear word of something vulgar. So that wouldn’t be it.


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## Abaye

I mean it's an English expression written in Arabic letters (not Arabic words). Is it vulgar in English? That's beyond my knowledge.
If you think the tattoo means something completely else, I'm happy to withdraw my guess.


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## Glasguensis

jakeroberts19 said:


> Someone mentioned this but the person says its a swear word of something vulgar. So that wouldn’t be it.


Does the person speak Arabic? What is their native language ?


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## jakeroberts19

Glasguensis said:


> Does the person speak Arabic? What is their native language ?


This makes sense. They are hispanic. It must be Spanish words written in Arabic. How could I get that translation?


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## jakeroberts19

Abaye said:


> I mean it's an English expression written in Arabic letters (not Arabic words). Is it vulgar in English? That's beyond my knowledge.
> If you think the tattoo means something completely else, I'm happy to withdraw my guess.


Since its letters, Could you write out for me the letters it is using? Maybe this would be helpful.


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## elroy

Italian “Beve birra” (“Drink beer”) would match.

The letters are BF BIRA.  Arabic doesn’t have a /v/ sound so F is used for that.  Short vowels are not written, so BF could be “beve.”  Geminated consonants are also not written twice, so BIRA could be “birra.”

Are you able to ask this person?


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## alfaalfa

Ciao


elroy said:


> Italian “Beve birra”





jakeroberts19 said:


> the person says its a swear word of something vulgar.


I'm a bit confused


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## elroy

I meant "would match" the letters.  I wasn't taking that part into account, obviously.


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## alfaalfa




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## Glasguensis

The problem with getting a tattoo in a language you don’t personally master is that it doesn’t always mean what you think it means. Or it could be that someone thought that the majority of people able to decipher the message would be Muslim and therefore offended by an exhortation to drink alcohol.


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## elroy

elroy said:


> Italian “Beve birra” (“Drink beer”) would match.


Sorry, that should be "Bev*i* birra."  (I was influenced by Spanish!)


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## Glasguensis

Both are possible. (Formal/familiar)


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## elroy

Nope, the formal version is "beva."  "beve" was just a Spanish influence.  Don't give me more credit than I deserve.


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## elitaliano

elroy said:


> Italian “Beve birra” (“Drink beer”) would match.
> 
> The letters are BF BIRA.  Arabic doesn’t have a /v/ sound so F is used for that.  Short vowels are not written, so BF could be “beve"...



Why not "bevo birra" (I drink beer)?


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## elroy

elitaliano said:


> Why not "bevo birra" (I drink beer)?


Good question!  I can't really explain why, but a word-final "o" vowel would not be omitted.


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