Tramp Stamp

Douglas G. Wilson douglas at NB.NET
Thu Jul 24 01:04:14 UTC 2008


> The tattoo is also known as "ass antlers", which I take back to 2002.
German equivalent "Arschgeweih" is my favorite. I see it from 2002 at
Usenet.

I've never heard any of these expressions applied in 'real life'; I've
heard only "lower back tattoo" and similar prosaicisms (except perhaps
when the topic is not the tattoo but rather "a funny expression I saw on
the Internet").

A possibly related "tramp stamp" from Helen Bottel's advice column, 23
Oct. 1967 (N'archive), various papers (e.g., _Fresno Bee_, p. 8-A):

<<When a 17-year-old girl goes weekending with boys she scarcely knows
... she'll get the Tramp Stamp ....>>

Here I guess it is a metaphoric label (= "a bad reputation" or so)
rather than an actual physical item. I've never heard it myself AFAIK.

-- Doug Wilson

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