M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
What is FWIW?
Bonsai Pronunciation
- Thread starter neptune13
- Start date
Kandoloh
Shohin
I blame Karate Kid for pronunciation! BONSAI DANIELSAN! BONSAI!
ColinFraser
Masterpiece
"For What It's Worth"
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
Thanks. All I could come up with was fat women in wetsuits.
jk_lewis
Masterpiece
THIS is much ado about damned little, methinks. How can we waste so much bandwidth on so much drivel?
neptune13
Seedling
barrosinc
Masterpiece
I actually googled that...
JoeR
Masterpiece
I dont like saying it like 'bone-sigh'. It just doesn't feel right, almost like I am trying to be Japanese. Im not Japanese. It feels similar to an American doing a terrible impersonation of a 'Bri-ish' person if you know what I mean.
We need an American word/spelling/pronunciation for it. Theres China's Penjing, Japan's Bonsai, Korea's Bonzai, etc. but no American/Western way.
We need an American word/spelling/pronunciation for it. Theres China's Penjing, Japan's Bonsai, Korea's Bonzai, etc. but no American/Western way.
StarTurtle
Yamadori
Wee Trees
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
The truth of the matter is that a lot of people have heard it pronounced Bon-Zai for so long and that it is the pronunciation they heard when they first learned about bonsai that to say it any other way embarrasses them. It's like being corrected for saying Birthday as Birfday.
lordy
Omono
If any of you know the typical Baltimore sound, you know what I mean when I say it sounds like it comes out Bane sigh. I feel very conspicuous saying BONE sign, so I bend it a bit back towards BON sai. Phonetically, I think it should sound a bit more like bon than bone. I agree with how Rockm put it: depends on who I am speaking with.
DougB
Chumono
And yes NAMES DO MATTER! As a 7th grade teacher or human resource manager about the worst sin I could make was mispronouncing a child's or adults name. Their response was often very quick as a result of my insulting them. And many were not Anglo-saxons.
How about you -- do you correct folks regarding pronouncing your name. And just for the record I am warning you about a possible uprising of bonsai trees that
How about you -- do you correct folks regarding pronouncing your name. And just for the record I am warning you about a possible uprising of bonsai trees that
PiñonJ
Omono
Sorry, but "bone" is not the correct pronunciation either. The o is almost a diphthong, as in "show". The o in bonsai is closer to the sound in "door".
jk_lewis
Masterpiece
Mostly to see how quickly some nitwit would say exactly what you said -- adding to the drivel.
fourteener
Omono
I get tired of explaining it to dumbfounded looks. I say it wrong so I don't waste my time with people.
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
neptune13
Seedling
Eric Group
Masterpiece
I think John G mentioned that they came up with a catchy American phrase once... Something like "miniaturized artistically styled trees in pots"... "MASTIP". .? I can never remember it correctly...
Very American, right?
I honestly always feel odd saying it "bone-sigh" too.. Look, I am from the South. We don't pronounce ENGLISH CORRECTLY! Why the Hell would I bend over backwards to pronounce JAPANESE correctly? If I say it like "BOWNZAY"- people still know what I am talking about, so what does it matter? I have never BEEN to Japan... So if someone is from there, and they take great care in pronunciation, or that is their accent/ normal way of talking... I get it... But I am with you man.. It kind of makes me feel like a poser to say it like that. It is like Italian people- Giada on Food Network is the prime example to me. It is this superiority BS about how they pronounce certain words. "MOTZZZZARELLLLLL", or "PARMIZIAONNNOOOO"... Is how they stay it, but every other English word they speak is completely lacking of any sort of Italian accent? So... The rest of America talks like you do, UNTIL you are saying a word that is mildly Italian and hen we say "Marscapone", the Italian person has to say "MIARZKAPONEEEEYYY"... Seriously..? Just GTFO of my FACE with that BS.
Sorry to my friends who I hang out with and practice Bonsai with if I embarass you by talking like a country boy, but I promise I will frequently forget to say it the "right way".
barrosinc
Masterpiece
the correct pronounciation in japanese, is how I would reald it in spanish if I saw it written down.
It is actually spelt bonsái here.
It is actually spelt bonsái here.
Eric Group
Masterpiece
Oh man... I work at a bank and the worst is "Checkins account". "I needs to open me a checkins account." All day man... Full on 50% of the people who come in to open an account with me say that! WTH? Seriously? I get it... I mean "savingS" account is correct... So it must BE "checkingS", right? Hell maybe I am wrong for thinking it should be said "Checking"?!? I don't think it is a Southern thing either... People say the same thing at our branches in NY, NJ... I have talked to reps up there. The damnedest thing! Americans are so bad at the written and spoken language, we JUST MAKE STUFF UP! It gets repeated enough and it IS correct! Ain't ain't a word... Til Webster said it was! I could care less about the whole thing... So... I COULD care less? As in.. I actually care about it at least a little bit because it is possible that I COULD CARE LESS, right? Or is that missing a word somewhere?
Again... Americans cannot even SPEAK ENGLISH. WHY are some of us so hung up on the correct pronunciation of a JAPANESE word?
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