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Shallow Ink

It seems that soccer magnate David Beckham and the ever-underfed Posh Spice have gotten inked in loshon ha-kodesh, getting matching tats for their anniversary with the famous line from Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs): “I am to my beloved as my beloved is to me.” My understanding is the phrase is written in the original Hebrew.
According to the cheezy gossip site reporting this,

Real Madrid and England star Becks, 30, had the design etched onto his forearm, above another a tattoo of Victoria’s name in Hindi. Former Spice Girl, Posh, opted for a less obvious version of the same phrase – on her neck. The footballer said he decided on the Hebrew tattoo in recognition of his mother’s family who are Jewish.

It’s not clear to me whether this makes Becks a full-on member of the Tribe—”family, who are Jewish,” is both bad writing, and also vague. Actually, I don’t care if he is. Even if he weren’t Jewy at all, I don’t think the cultural appropriation factor would bother him that much, given that he’s also getting tats in Hindi and who knows what else. I don’t know what the symbolism is for Posh getting the tat specifically on her neck. I’m not sure I want to know.
What-ever.

3 thoughts on “Shallow Ink

  1. “‘family, who are Jewish,’ is both bad writing, and also vague.”
    Vague it may be, but it certainly isn’t bad writing. Collective personal nouns, families, sports teams, etc. take the plural verb in proper British English.

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