An elaborate tattoo of Virgin Mary on the back of a Swiss man fetched $219,000 from a German collector at a Zurich gallery on Monday, on condition he allows it to be exhibited at least three time a year. Gallery owner Jutta Nexdorf said the extraordinary deal also gives the "buyer" the right to take from the skin of Tim Steiner the tattoo upon his death.

eading Australian dictionary Macquarie has added 85 new words and phrases grouped in 17 categories from business to travel. The collection includes odd words such as 'toad juice', 'slummy mummies', and 'arse antlers' among others. 'Toad juice' is defined as a foul-smelling liquid fertilizer produced from pulverizing cane toads, pests that devastate native wildlife. 'Slummy mummies' refer to mothers who are oblivious to their personal appearance, an antonym of which is so-called yummy mommies. And 'arse antlers' is another term for a tattoo just above the buttocks.

Two tattoo artists from Cleveland on Wednesday broke the Guinness World Record for the longest tattooing session. John Cross made the tattoo on his boss, Aaron Favaloro, non-stop for 46 hours starting on Monday at the Skin Graphix Tattoo Studio in downtown Cleveland. The session beat the existing record of 43 hours and 50 minutes was set by Australians Stephen Grady and Melanie Grieveson on Aug. 26-28, 2006.

Author J. K. Rowling's outing of Harry Potter's mentor Albus Dumbledore has caused reactions of different kinds around the world. And a more amusing consequence of the announcement is being experienced by 36-year old Paul Croft, who brandishes a 2-foot tattoo of the newly-exposed wizard on his back.

A man got the surprise of his life when he finally realized his body markings actually spelled Coca-Cola, a full 26 years after he had it inscribed on his chest. According to Vince Mattingley of Watford, Hertfordshire, he had originally asked for his name to be tattooed on his chest in Chinese characters after asking a staff at his favorite restaurant to write his name in Chinese symbols.