Did she really want that foreign language tattoo?

Remember ex-New York Governor Elliot Spitzer? How could you not? It's hard to forget a hard-charging prosecutor famous for going after corporate corruption who was removed from office because he bought the services of a 22 year-old prostitute working for The Emperor's Club VIP who sold their services at prices from $1000 to $5500 per hour.

Ashley Dupre, the prostitute involved, has become a minor celebrity herself as a result of Spitzers downfall. So it should not be surprising that The Daily News published pictures taken of her at the beach in a two-piece swimsuit. The immediate question arose - what did her tattoo - “tutela valui,” - mean? The ever intrepid City Room reporter at the New York Times decided to find out for us, his readers.

To get the Latin scholar perspective, City Room decided to call over to local universities’ classics departments. [Snip]

At Columbia University, a telephone call was answered by Eric Ensley, a graduate student.

This City Room reporter explained that we needed a translation of a Latin phrase, and spelled out the words: T-U-T-E-L-A V-A-L-U-I

“Tutela?” Mr. Ensley said. “That’s weird.”

It’s not real Latin, is it? City Room asked.

“No, it’s not. Where are you pulling this from?”

It’s a tattoo. [Snip]

“‘Tutela’ is a ‘custodian, safeguard, defense’ — something like that,” he said. “It can mean a lot of things. ‘Protection’ is a good translation. ‘Valui’ means ‘I was strong,’ literally. This is the exact translation I can give you, ‘I was strong by means of a keeper, by means of safety.’”

So that was the first answer from Columbia University's Classics Department. But shortly after that, an earlier e-mail to the Classics Department at New York University got a response.

N.Y.U. called us back. City Room’s query had set the department abuzz, said Nancy Smith-Amer, an administrative assistant. “I have something for you they seem to have all agreed to: ‘I fared well by protection.’”

We finally told Mr. Ensley, at Columbia, whose tattoo he was translating.

“Oh, God,” he said. “I guess on some weird level, if you wanted to translate it into some modern sense of the word, You could say, ‘I used protection.’”

Sort of like a guarantee stamped on spoilables for sale at the grocery store. You think?