Tuesday, December 7, 2004
Botched Female, Dog, Tiger
From reader "Jan I.":
"The picture is just a random encounter during a shopping afternoon - a cap with some random looking letters .. I wonder if they carry any meaning at all? Cheers."
The first character looks like a botched "female".
女 = female, woman, girl; feminine
The second one can be either "dog" or "to protect" depends on it is a dot or stroke in the center.
戌 = eleventh sign of Chinese zodiac (The Dog, 7pm-9pm, west-northwest, September)
戍 = defend borders, guard frontiers
The last one is correct and it means "tiger"
寅 = third sign of Chinese zodiac (The Tiger, 3am-5am, east-northeast, January); to respect, reverence; respectfully