You know how some things just don't translate?

[Forsoothe!]

So, I have a Bonsai Empire graphic as a monitor background screen that shows the several styles of bonsai along with their names in Japanese. I thought to myself, "I ought to put the English translation on there so I don't have to try to remember something that I can't even pronounce. Great idea, but it just doesn't work that way in the world and falls into the, "You can't get there from here" kind of answer. There are idioms in every language, -and every regional dialect, that don't mean anything to outsiders who are not well versed in local meanings and/or origin of terms that can be common as dirt and deeply meaningful in one place or one tongue. Enter something old and esoteric as traditional Japanese bonsai and language goes right out the window. To wit:

What started out as pretty rocky resolved into, "You can't get there from here...

 

[sorce]

Excellent.

Sorce

 

[Juanmi]

Tachi-gi (Upright tree)
Chokkan (Straight Trunk)
Shakan (Slanted trunk)
Moyo-gi (Informal upright)
Fukinagashi (Windswept)
Bunjin (A stract and free style (Literati))
Bankan (Gnarled trunk)
Nejikan (Twisted trunk)
Sabakan (Split or hollowed trunk)
Kobukan (Knobby trunk)
Sharikan (Peeled bark trunk)
Kengai (Cascade)
Han-kengai (Semi-cascade)
Dai-kengai (Great Cascade (almost vertical))
Sokan (Double trunk)
Soju (Twin trees)
Kabudachi (Sprout style)
Korabuki (Multiple sprouts from a stump or growing from a shell of a turtle)
Netsuranari (Sprouts from a long surface root)
Ikadabuki (Raft style)
Yose-uye (Group planting)
Ishi-zuke (Rock clinging style)
Tako-zukuri (Octopus style)
Neagari (Exposed upgrowing root style)
Hoki-zukuri (Broom shape)
Rosoku-zukuri (Candle flame shape)
Kasa-zukuri (Umbrella shape)

I omitted some styles that are not that common.
Cheers!

 

[just.wing.it]

That's hilarious!
Half Outside the Prefecture and Outside the Prefecture are my favorites.
At least Bunjin Tree is pretty straightforward.
And Windsock sounds like it should be someone's handle on a dating app.

 

[Cypress187]

That's hilarious!
Half Outside the Prefecture and Outside the Prefecture are my favorites.
At least Bunjin Tree is pretty straightforward.
And Windsock sounds like it should be someone's handle on a dating app.

I like the Sokan.

 

[Starfox]

It´s all about the "Seat Women" but "I like doctors" runs a close second.

 

[sorce]

So long as it's not a Seki-Joju that says Ishisuki because she probably has a fake ass and is riding his Hokidachi Yose-ue. She'll probably say his Hokidachi was only Han-Kengai, still, my Chokkan is right she Kengai! Peace out with your fake ass lips!

Back to trying to get this damn Shakkan for me.

Sorce

 

[HorseloverFat]

It´s all about the "Seat Women" but "I like doctors" runs a close second.

My thoughts EXACTLY... literally..

I also enjoy the plain absurdity of “windsock”

 

[just.wing.it]

I recall a story about an American getting a Chinese or Japanese character tattoo that was supposed to mean something like "guts" and "strength or tough"....and it translated to something like "chewy intestines"....or some such thing.
I'm sure that has happened thousands of times.

 

[HorseloverFat]

I recall a story about an American getting a Chinese or Japanese character tattoo that was supposed to mean something like "guts" and "strength or tough"....and it translated to something like "chewy intestines"....or some such thing.
I'm sure that has happened thousands of times.

Brittany Spears’ Chinese symbol was supposed to mean “mysterious”...

But it actually means “weird” in the “socially off-putting” sense.

 

[just.wing.it]

Brittany Spears’ Chinese symbol was supposed to mean “mysterious”...

But it actually means “weird” in the “socially off-putting” sense.

Haha!
Perfectly fitting then!
She had the childhood-like wonderment of a toddler when she decided on "mysterious".....
.....and some time later her mystery was solved, when she became a socially off-putting weirdo.
....remember K-Fed....lol!

 

[HorseloverFat]

Haha!
Perfectly fitting then!
She had the childhood-like wonderment of a toddler when she decided on "mysterious".....
.....and some time later her mystery was solved, when she became a socially off-putting weirdo.
....remember K-Fed....lol!

Remember The Jamie Kennedy-voiced character from “Cleveland show?”.. named ‘Federline”..

Or while we’re in THIS vein...

Do you remember B-Rad G?

 

[just.wing.it]

Remember The Jamie Kennedy-voiced character from “Cleveland show?”.. named ‘Federline”..

Or while we’re in THIS vein...

Do you remember B-Rad G?
View attachment 367221

Classic.