Things that drive me crazy about bonsai people

[penumbra]

I don't think Frank Zappa is good for anything but making people with tourette's feel more comfortable about their dancing.

I'm a fan. Saw him in Richmond early 1970s.

 

[ShadyStump]

I'm a fan. Saw him in Richmond early 1970s.

I tease, but I've totally been caught jamming out to The Ting Tings, so...

 

[milehigh_7]

I tend to not get ruffled by stupid things anymore. Younger me yes, older me not so much.

 

[19Mateo83]

Bonsai adjacent; can't stand the friggin zither music type crap on bonsai videos.
I can't be the only one jamming out to punk rock while working on trees.

You ain’t. I have been known to blast some five finger death punch and avenged sevenfold while working on my trees

 

[BillsBayou]

People who stack too many replies into one post piss me off.

... when they refer to any collected tree, no matter the location or the age, as a "yamadori."

Yamadori - mountain collected
Numadori - swamp collected
Yamidori - night collected

When someone shows you a pitiful stick in a pot and says "I don't know what to do with it. It just got away from me."

"Come back to me in ten years" usually works.

Interesting observation but it seems to be Crape Myrtle only in the US?

"Crape" because mine are all crap.

Pretty sure either spelling for the myrtle is acceptable.

"Myrtle" is properly pronounced "MOY-tle"

...Just use diameter.

I use radius to keep everyone confused.

... But every time I see it I can't help but think how silly it looks.

My wife couldn't decide which mudman to buy for me. So she ordered one of each.

...(@BillsBayou is to be blamed for me putting BCs on plywood slabs.)

I've been told my stones are underpriced. Did you come see me at C'est Bonsai in Folsom?

I thought of another. "Specie" is not the singular form of the word "species."

Those people are being specious.

...Zappa is not good for wiring, trust me.

I disagree.
"Watch out where the huskies go and don't you eat that yellow snow"
"Watch out where the huskies go and don't you eat that yellow snow"
"Watch out where the huskies go and don't you eat that yellow snow"
It's rhythmic.

...labor intensive and sometimes violent (if you're using a chainsaw to collect a tree or reduce a trunk) or ripping a branch off to create a jin.

Carving a bald cypress with a SIG Sauer 1911 .45 handgun with hollow points can be quite relaxing. I found using a Glock 17 9mm FMJ to be underwhelming. Maybe I should have used another clip.

 

[19Mateo83]

What drives me crazy about bonsai folk is when they talk about how expensive this hobby is. I meanwhile sit there silently thinking to myself “you’ve obviously never had a reef tank”… you don’t know expensive until you have spent $150 on a 1.5 inch long fish or spend $1000 on a light fixture

 

[pandacular]

What drives me crazy about bonsai folk is when they talk about how expensive this hobby is. I meanwhile sit there silently thinking to myself “you’ve obviously never had a reef tank”… you don’t know expensive until you have spent $150 on a 1.5 inch long fish or spend $1000 on a light fixture

When I went to my first bonsai event that people traveled to, I remember getting dinner and drinks with a fellow who had flown in from across the country. What he said stuck with me:

“There are ways to do bonsai inexpensively—I have not chosen any of them.”

 

[shohin_branches]

I’ll add another…people who name drop the artists they’ve worked with….like Mauro, or Suthin, or Peter Tea, or Bjorn, or Ryan—as if they’re on the artist’s speed dial and lifetime besties.

I was wearing my Bjorn shirt when I met Kimura and he told me I dress like Ryan Niel.

 

[shohin_branches]

My favorite way to end this debate is to say, well actually, it's pronounced pénzāi, and it's the Japanese who are pronouncing it wrong. Always interesting to see (non-Japanese) Americans work their way out of that one.

My coworker said it's pronounced pún-sai

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I think the whole "bonsai" pronunciation issue is silly. There is a proper way to pronounce the word, and then there are many other ways you can pronounce the word that are all incorrect - and in fact, may sound like another word entirely (like banzai).

Since I am familiar with the German language, it would be like going into a bar and ordering a Bär instead of a Bier

 

[ShadyStump]

Sure, but I can totally just scream, "BANZAI," while working on my bonsai, and no would know what the hell the is going on, or at least would be scared enough to leave me the hell alone, and then it wouldn't matter.

Also, you are not in Germany. If you walked into a bar and ordered a bier or a bär you'd confuse them all the same.
So I'll worry about my Japanese accent when I go to Japan.

 

[Cajunrider]

If you walked into a bar and ordered a bier or a bär you'd confuse them all the same.
So I'll worry about my Japanese accent when I go to Japan.

I’ve traveled to many countries. I have yet to find one bar that gets confused when I just smile and say “beer!”
PS: The fastest place is in Cologne. I walked into a bar and they beered me before saying hello. Then they keep refilling until I learned that I must turn my mug upside down for them to stop.

 

[ShadyStump]

I’ve traveled to many countries. I have yet to find one bar that gets confused when I just smile and say “beer!”
PS: The fastest place is in Cologne. I walked into a bar and they beered me before saying hello. Then they keep refilling until I learned that I must turn my mug upside down for them to stop.

And I don't drink any more.
Sobriety would really put kink in travel experiences.

 

[Cajunrider]

And I don't drink any more.
Sobriety would really put kink in travel experiences.

Yeah but then you will remember where you have been. I can’t really remember Ireland.

 

[Gabler]

And I don't drink any more.
Sobriety would really put kink in travel experiences.

No. It would just save you a ton of money.

 

[Gabler]

I think the whole "bonsai" pronunciation issue is silly. There is a proper way to pronounce the word, and then there are many other ways you can pronounce the word that are all incorrect - and in fact, may sound like another word entirely (like banzai).

Since I am familiar with the German language, it would be like going into a bar and ordering a Bär instead of a Bier

View attachment 537938

Speech language pathologists who provide speech therapy to children will teach those children to speak in their parents' or community's native accent. My sister had to learn seven or eight different ways to pronounce the word "dad" when she was in SLP school, and that's only including American accents. There can be more than one correct way to pronounce a word, just as there can be more than one way to spell a word, such as "crape/crepe." It only becomes a problem where it causes confusion. I gave the example of the word "specie" being misused as a singular form of the word "species." The word "specie" means something different entirely, like with "bär" and "bier." The word "bonsai" is never going to be confused with "BANZAI!!!" The volume and tone are much different. Plus, everyone is used go the American pronunciation. If anything, it causes confusion when I talk about "bones-eye" trees.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

I think the whole "bonsai" pronunciation issue is silly. There is a proper way to pronounce the word, and then there are many other ways you can pronounce the word that are all incorrect - and in fact, may sound like another word entirely (like banzai).

I found out pretty early in my relationship with my wife that she can be bothered by intentional mispronunciation. I pronounced Dublin like “Doo-blin” once being silly and it bugged her so bad it bcame a thing. Until I went to a pub and ordered the “Doo-blin Stout” and got some weird looks. The other word is “Bonsai.” I watched the Bonsai Empire video way back where Oscar is explaining it sounds like “Bone-sigh” and for some reason I turned to my wife and said it that way but did this weird gesture with my hand and again it stuck. Then realized at the last meeting where I was doing a beginner talk I said Bonsai and did the weird gesture and goddamn it I’m a weirdo.

 

[Joe Dupre']

One of my friends smirked at me when I first mentioned bonsai, which I pronounced "bone-sigh". She said it was "banzai". I said it was a Japanese word and that pronunciation makes a difference. I gave her the example of "sheet" and "sh!t". Sounds close, but you better get it right or you could be in trouble!

 

[MSU JBoots]

One of my friends smirked at me when I first mentioned bonsai, which I pronounced "bone-sigh". She said it was "banzai". I said it was a Japanese word and that pronunciation makes a difference. I gave her the example of "sheet" and "sh!t". Sounds close, but you better get it right or you could be in trouble!

My dad was born and raised in Morocco. Apparently when he met my mom in college he would mean to curse but it would sound like “sheet” which is still quite hilarious to me.

 

[Kievnstavick]

Some people have brought up a good point on pronouncing words. Certain dialects and languages tend to pronounce foreign words more akin to how their language would say those combined letters.

A key thing to remember (whether you like it or detest it) is that this is all part of the evolution of a language.