The Ultimate Tattoo Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
1 min
The Ultimate Tattoo Quiz
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About This Quiz

Not long ago, most Americans associated tattoos with sailors, bikers and sideshow artists. But tattoos have become more popular in recent years. What does it take to get an image under your skin?
A tattoo is an image that has been deposited in the skin's:
dermis
epidermis
subcutaneous tissue
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

You can see a tattoo through the skin's epidermis -- but the ink itself goes right into the dermis.

Tattoo ink is deposited in the dermis because:
It's less sensitive than the epidermis.
It's more stable than the epidermis.
It's less allergy-prone than the epidermis.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Your epidermis renews itself constantly, and ink deposited there would fade and change quickly. But ink deposited into the dermis is fairly stable. It will stay there for a person's entire life.

The word 'tattoo' comes from:
the archaic English word 'taptoo,' meaning 'to tap'
the Middle Dutch word 'tappe,' meaning 'to tap'
the Tahitian word 'tattau,' or 'tatau,' meaning 'to mark'
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Tattooing is part of many indigenous cultures. The first recorded use of the word tattoo is from James Cook's records of his expedition to the South Pacific in 1769. The term comes from the Tahitian word for 'to mark.'

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The design of the modern tattoo machine comes from:
an engraving tool
a sewing machine
a dental drill
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Even though a tattoo machine looks and sounds a little like a dental drill, its design was based on an autographic printer created by Thomas Edison. Samuel O'Reilly invented the tattoo machine in the late 1800s.

Tattoo artists have to be careful about sterilizing their equipment because:
Each time the needle pierces the skin, it creates a puncture wound.
Diseases can spread through unsterile tattoo equipment.
both A and B
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

If tattoo equipment is sterile -- and people with freshly tattooed bodies care for them properly at home -- the risk of infection is relatively low. But a tattoo is basically an injury. Every time the needle enters the skin, it creates the opportunity for microorganisms to enter as well.

Tattoo artists sterilize their equipment in:
a sink
a dishwasher
an autoclave
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An autoclave uses heat and pressure to kill microorganisms. In addition to being used to clean tattoo needles, autoclaves are used to sterilize equipment in hospitals and dentist offices.

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During tattooing, black work involves:
using a single-tipped needle to make a permanent outline
using a thick needle to color large areas black
using a medium-sized needle to make accents on a finished tattoo
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Black work is a preliminary step in most tattoos. It involves creating a permanent outline, often from a stencil, of the design. For very large tattoos, it's often practical to complete all the black work in one session and fill in the color later.

A tattoo artist should not spray soap directly onto a bleeding area because:
It will sting.
It will make the colors run.
Blood could become airborne when the spray hits it.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Bloodborne diseases like HIV and hepatitis make safety precautions during tattooing extremely important. If an artist needs to clean an area on a person's skin, he or she should spray the soap onto a tissue, not onto the bleeding area. This keeps blood droplets from flying through the air.

Gaps in tattoo color are called:
whirligigs
skiptics
holidays
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A holiday is any part of a tattoo where the ink is missing. This can happen if the ink disappears during healing or if the artist misses a spot during coloring.

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Tattoos can cause problems in MRI machines because of:
metallic pigments in the ink
abnormal blood flow through the tattooed skin
the immune system's response to the tattoo
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Patients with tattoos have reported pain or burning during MRI procedures. Doctors also report interference around tattooed areas in some cases. Either way, the culprit is metallic particles in the tattoo ink.

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