Consider it a grammar lesson for one tattooed Nova Scotian.

A small claims court has ruled that Amy Ullock was the "author of her own misfortune" when she failed to correct a misspelled word she was about to have inked on her arm.

Ullock wanted a tattoo of the phrase, "You're so beautiful." Dartmouth tattoo artist Marie Reid typed the phrase into a computer, showed it to Ullock, then stencilled it on her client.

It was only later that Ullock discovered she was "beatiful."

There was a brief confrontation at the tattoo parlour. Reid told Ullock she would have to wait a couple of months before she could fix the gaffe, and Ullock and her irate brother were ordered out of the shop, the court heard last month.

Ullock went directly to another tattoo artist, who tried to fix the mistake. But the case ultimately landed in small claims court.

Adjudicator David Parker concluded that Ullock has no one to blame but herself.

In a decision released Wednesday, Parker said Ullock could have fixed the error when she was shown the phrase on the computer or when the stencil was applied to her arm.

He also noted that Reid never had a chance to correct the gaffe because Ullock went elsewhere.

Parker dismissed Ullock's claim for restitution.