Things that drive me crazy about bonsai people

[namnhi]

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!

This is true with Vietnamese as well. The sound of a world say by the person from Central or Nothern part of the country can be very different meaning... often time it will sound like curse world.

 

[JoB]

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.

I live near Cologne....this was a learning for me too although only after one evening involving far too many kölsch

 

[Cajunrider]

People exaggerating the spiritual thing saying things about bonsai like "it's so zen" or "it gives me peace".

While that is true most of the time, once in a while it hits, and that feels so good. I gave away a BC/Chinese elm composition to a friend this past weekend on the anniversary of his wife's passing. I thought it looks just OK. Then I found my friend sitting in a meditation pose right in front of the trees for almost an hour, totally oblivious of what else was going around him. Now that gave me peace!

 

[Wood]

I'm kinda surprised. Five pages in and nobody has mentioned "bonsais". It's like nails on a chalkboard

You can have one bonsai. You can have three bonsai. You cannot have three bonsais, you illiterate fool

 

[Cajunrider]

I'm kinda surprised. Five pages in and nobody has mentioned "bonsais". It's like nails on a chalkboard

You can have one bonsai. You can have three bonsai. You cannot have three bonsais, you illiterate fool

Just like the word "irregardless", it's been used wrongly so long it shows up in some dictionaries. As time goes on, I suspect "bonsais" will be more popular
The only thing we can hope for is that "bonsais" will remain as non-standard plural form.

 

[Wood]

I struggle to accept either the Wikitonary or WordSense definitions, given that they also provide verb forms of the word

Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster both list a "bonsai" plural form, and Cambridge doesn't mention it. But clods will clod and language will evolve, so

 

[Gabler]

I'm kinda surprised. Five pages in and nobody has mentioned "bonsais". It's like nails on a chalkboard

You can have one bonsai. You can have three bonsai. You cannot have three bonsais, you illiterate fool

See my comment throught the link below:

Things that drive me crazy about bonsai people

“Crepe” is a fabric or a paper. “Crape” is a myrtle. Interesting observation but it seems to be Crape Myrtle only in the US? The rest of the world recognises Lagerstroemia as Crepe Myrtle. The origin of the name appears to be because the flowers look a little like crepe paper which would make...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Wood]

See my comment throught the link below:

Things that drive me crazy about bonsai people

“Crepe” is a fabric or a paper. “Crape” is a myrtle. Interesting observation but it seems to be Crape Myrtle only in the US? The rest of the world recognises Lagerstroemia as Crepe Myrtle. The origin of the name appears to be because the flowers look a little like crepe paper which would make...

www.bonsainut.com

Touché! Must have skimmed past that

 

[Joe Dupre']

My wife fills me in on the "words" she hears on QVC. Host describing the drawers in a jewelry chest........" and they're easily pulloutable." . Years later, we still laugh about that one.

 

[circledisk]

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."

this is so common on reddit, where most of the posts are "what do I do with this bonsai, I don't know how to take care of it?"

and its some obscure half-dead sapling in a massive pot of gardening soil thats been kept indoors

 

[circledisk]

It does put me off when someone emphasizes the "bOne" a bit too much......with a really long O sound. Ryan Neil tends to do this.

ryan knows what he's doing, but MAN does he love to hear himself talk.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Are there things other bonsai folk say or do that just make you want to scream? I’ll start with two.

“Crepe” is a fabric or a paper. “Crape” is a myrtle.

Natal plum is not pronounced “NAY-tul”, like a word referring to birth. It’s “nah-TAHL”, as in the part of South Africa to which the tree is indigenous.

I didn't know that ... . I have a paper tree apparently. giggling. I've never spelled it correctly. Yet no one has ever corrected me.

 

[vp999]

My wife fills me in on the "words" she hears on QVC. Host describing the drawers in a jewelry chest........" and they're easily pulloutable." . Years later, we still laugh about that one.

I wish I was "pulloutable" sometimes

 

[Cadillactaste]

I had one from UK ask...why is it...in America people call ones Sensei...and here we call ones like Kevin Wilson...Kev.

Interesting observation but it seems to be Crape Myrtle only in the US? The rest of the world recognises Lagerstroemia as Crepe Myrtle. The origin of the name appears to be because the flowers look a little like crepe paper which would make Crepe myrtle correct would it not?


I'm with you on this one!

I'll add:
Bonsai 'experts' insisting that the way they do it is the one and only way.

Hmmmmmm on the crepe aspect. I spend a lot of time in non-American groups. Might be why I spell it as crepe.

 

[Wood]

I had one from UK ask...why is it...in America people call ones Sensei...and here we call ones like Kevin Wilson...Kev.

I’ve heard a couple discussions on podcasts and such that early American bonsai culture started off as incredibly insular in the Japanese American communities of So Cal. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s been inherited from those clubs and communities. It seems like it’s more common for west coast hobbyists to use the phrase than those on the east coast

 

[Paradox]

When people bring a straight as an arrow trunk and ask "can I make it into a cascade?"

 

[vp999]

When people bring a straight as an arrow trunk and ask "can I make it into a cascade?"

Obviously u haven't seen this....

 

[Wulfskaar]

While that is true most of the time, once in a while it hits, and that feels so good. I gave away a BC/Chinese elm composition to a friend this past weekend on the anniversary of his wife's passing. I thought it looks just OK. Then I found my friend sitting in a meditation pose right in front of the trees for almost an hour, totally oblivious of what else was going around him. Now that gave me peace!

I agree. I'm not under any pressure to enter my trees into shows or anything, so when I get to sit outside and look at my trees, it does bring me peace. Living in southern California, I can either focus on the sound of the freeway and helicopters and sirens, or I can focus on the nice breeze coming off the ocean, the birds singing, and my tiny forest. It is one of the most calm parts of my day when I get to sit out there for a bit.

 

[Srt8madness]

My wife fills me in on the "words" she hears on QVC. Host describing the drawers in a jewelry chest........" and they're easily pulloutable." . Years later, we still laugh about that one.

Last time I said that I ended up with two kids

I’ve heard a couple discussions on podcasts and such that early American bonsai culture started off as incredibly insular in the Japanese American communities of So Cal. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s been inherited from those clubs and communities. It seems like it’s more common for west coast hobbyists to use the phrase than those on the east coast

It was a bit jarring first time I heard a white guy say that. Reminded me a bit of the guys a little too obsessed with Karate even in middle age. "My sensei can beat up your sensei"

 

[Cajunrider]

Last time I said that I ended up with two kids

It was a bit jarring first time I heard a white guy say that. Reminded me a bit of the guys a little too obsessed with Karate even in middle age. "My sensei can beat up your sensei"

Yeah it was pulloutable. The trouble was with your execution.

My sensei usually teamed up with my opponent's sensei and beat us both senseless.