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Question Kanji for "Always and Forever"?

Sarah Szabo

後輩
9 Feb 2018
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My Uncle is interested in getting a tatoo (I've given him the standard talk about kanji tatoos) and is interested in 'always and forever' with the context being his significant other (They're both going to get the same tatoo).

This is a bit above my current understanding (Second year Japanese). Can you provide a translation for this? 😃

If it doesn't translate well, what would you recommend as a translation?
 
There are, of course, multiple ways to translate this.
A suitable way in this case, I think, would be one that is not too lengthy, and has a nice sound to it.

One way that sounds good to me is:

常に、永遠に

(read as ツネニ、エイエンニ)

You should get other opinions, though, including from at least one native speaker.

Edit: I just came across the expression スエナガク, which is used, for example, at weddings, when wishing the couple a lifetime of never-ending happiness. That also sounds nice to me, and more poetic than 永遠に.

You could use it in this way:

常に、末永く

With this, though, you definitely need a native check.
 
Last edited:
There are, of course, multiple ways to translate this.
A suitable way in this case, I think, would be one that is not too lengthy, and has a nice sound to it.

One way that sounds good to me is:

常に、永遠に

(read as ツネニ、エイエンニ)

You should get other opinions, though, including from at least one native speaker.

Edit: I just came across the expression スエナガク, which is used, for example, at weddings, when wishing the couple a lifetime of never-ending happiness. That also sounds nice to me, and more poetic than 永遠に.

You could use it in this way:

常に、末永く

With this, though, you definitely need a native check.
ありがとうございます!
Are there any natives here that I could ask?
 
What about 永永無窮 or 永久不変 or 未来永劫?
These are all 4-character idioms that mean 'eternally'. 4-character idioms, aka 四字熟語 (yonjijukugo) are traditional words made of 4 kanji together that have a set meaning. These three are all compounds of two 2-character words, so in that way are similar to "always and forever".

The first more particularly means "continuing forever and never ending" and is very close to "always and forever", *but* I only know of it from the idiom dictionary and I think it is not used anymore in modern Japanese. Of course, the rarity of the phrase only matters if you care if Japanese speakers will recognize it. It is a compound of two unusual words that both mean "eternal".

The second is well known and used relatively often, and has a meaning more particularly like "Existing forever without change". It is a compound of two well-known words that mean "forever" and "unchanging" respectively.

The last is common enough to be understood, but I think not as common as the second. It means more particularly "Continuing on into the future, forever". It is a compound of a common word meaning "future" and an uncommon word that means "forever".
 
「いつも、いつまでも」

This has a very nice to sound to it, and also a nice balance between the two parts. Plus, because the letters are simple, it is easy to make as a tattoo.

OP: @Toritoribe is a native speaker of Japanese.

Also, whichever phrase you choose, please be sure to consider using an interesting-looking font, instead of a boring, plain one. On another recent thread, I provided a link to various interesting fonts.
 
This has a very nice to sound to it, and also a nice balance between the two parts. Plus, because the letters are simple, it is easy to make as a tattoo.

OP: @Toritoribe is a native speaker of Japanese.

Also, whichever phrase you choose, please be sure to consider using an interesting-looking font, instead of a boring, plain one. On another recent thread, I provided a link to various interesting fonts.
I've already told him about the font.

Thank you all for your advice!
ありがとうございました!

Can you post the link to your font post?
 
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