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What a Japanese person actually thinksSlightly grand and old-fashioned, in a good way. Also the title of a well-known manga and anime, which some readers will hit first.
Meaning
- Literally
- god + only + (emphatic) + knows
- Actually
- 'Only God knows.' A genuine idiom using the classical ぞ…連体形 emphatic construction, so it has real literary standing.
Scores
Naturalness●●●●●
A real, established phrase. The classical grammar is deliberate, not an error.
Coolness●●●●●
Six characters with three hiragana. Long for a tattoo, and the manga association softens it.
Watch out
- low'The World God Only Knows' (神のみぞ知るセカイ) is a popular manga. A slice of readers will think of that first.
- mediumIf you meant 'only God can judge me', this isn't that — this is about knowledge, not judgement.
Get this instead
-
天命
tenmei
the mandate of heaven; one's fate as decreedTwo characters for the same idea of a decision made above your head. Far denser.
On skin
神のみぞ知る
Orientation: vertical
Mincho, vertical.