New bonsai word?

Hi All,

In my time "doing" bonsai, one thing I have found is people struggling to come up with a name for those of us who "do" bonsai. I've heard words like bonsaist, bonsai'er, grower, artist, practitioner, etc, so I decided to come up with one that kind of makes sense to me. In my mind, good bonsai (as judged by common opinion) stems primarily from one's ability in two areas - horticulture and art. Horticulture is a science, and art is of course . . . . . . well, we won't go into that here! I think most of us would how ever agree that those of us who are both artistic and good horticulturally have a good chance of making bonsai that are commonly accepted to be "good" (what a dull word!).

So, thinking along these lines, I've come up with the word "harticulturalist". I kinda like it.

Cheers,

Andrew

Well I just hope that when you present yourself at a bonsai convention as a "harticulturalist", you would be asked "As a hearticulturalist, how do you cultivate hearts? In what medium do you grow them?"


I personally rather like the french term bonsaï-ka / bonsaïka / bonsai-ka / bonsaika = 盆栽家 = [roughtly] bonsai practitioners.
Kind of like jukoka are judo practitioners or karateka are karate practitioners.

xtolord wrote:Well I just hope that when you present yourself at a bonsai convention as a "harticulturalist", you would be asked "As a hearticulturalist, how do you cultivate hearts? In what medium do you grow them?"


I personally rather like the french term bonsaï-ka / bonsaïka / bonsai-ka / bonsaika = 盆栽家 = [roughtly] bonsai practitioners.
Kind of like jukoka are judo practitioners or karateka are karate practitioners.

Guess that's even more apt when you do trunk chops!

how about this one?

if a bonsai practitioner is someone who puts trees/shrubs in pot (i'll ignore the fact if its done with skill of art), then BON is the word for the tray/pot the tree is planted id... now that would make us BON-ER...boners?

Seriously, Science is research and Art at it's highest level [ Imaginative Figurative with planned involved backgrounds ] is research.
Essential for all the crap, Fine Art is also science.

If Bonsai is Horticulture plus DESIGN , then one would be a Master Gardener or a Bonsaist.

If you must have a tag for a Hobby.

If asked, I just say I grow Bonsai/Penjing, most folk could care toothpicks about what you call yourself, they are often too busy admiring and being amazed by the little trees in pots.
Hobby, hobby, hobby.
Khaimraj

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:Seriously, Science is research and Art at it's highest level [ Imaginative Figurative with planned involved backgrounds ] is research.
Essential for all the crap, Fine Art is also science.

If Bonsai is Horticulture plus DESIGN , then one would be a Master Gardener or a Bonsaist.

If you must have a tag for a Hobby.

If asked, I just say I grow Bonsai/Penjing, most folk could care toothpicks about what you call yourself, they are often too busy admiring and being amazed by the little trees in pots.
Hobby, hobby, hobby.
Khaimraj

I'm still not gonna call myself a boner!!! Perhaps a bonehead but not a boner!

Just a bit of light-hearted fun really.

Still, i think there are enough bonsai-folks who occasionally get a BON-xR when admiring a great bonsai.
If one person is experiencing that...it would be a Boner with a boner.
They say you can fall in love with bonsai no?

yves71277 wrote:

Still, i think there are enough bonsai-folks who occasionally get a BON-xR when admiring a great bonsai.
If one person is experiencing that...it would be a Boner with a boner.
They say you can fall in love with bonsai no?

@Yves
I while a nice bonsai can stir my imagination, stirs nothing below the belt but were a young lovely holding the tree, that's another matter.

@xtolord
I really like the sound of bonsaika or bonsai-ka. It actually flows in english and isn't too childish. Not that I would use it much with non-bonsai people, but it is a nice short hand abbreviation to use in our conversations about bonsai with bonsai people.

[quote="Andrew Legg"
In my time "doing" bonsai, one thing I have found is people struggling to come up with a name for those of us who "do" bonsai. [/quote]

Nice try Andrew, harticulturist sounds like a Pirate Maryjuana dealer

How about Bonsaier, One who does bonsai is bonsaing, and...

He is a" bonsaier"

My wife made a verb out of it. When ever I go outside she says "you going bonsain"?

Andrew Legg wrote:
In my time "doing" bonsai, one thing I have found is people struggling to come up with a name for those of us who "do" bonsai.

I like that Jkd, thats nails if for the doing. But what about those who do bonsai, what shall we call them... as Andrew said above.

bonsaiist-- awkward to say

bonsaika-- okay but has no real meaning to english speakers

harticulturist--pirate

bonsai hobby est, -dont know how to even spell it

bonsainut- er,,, cant mention over here LOL

bonsai practitioner- sounds like bonsai has a sore throat

boner... uh no

Whats left... bonsaiers, those who do bonsai

Men... usually get asked.. "And what do you do?" with reference to employment.

My response is "I have been known to trim the occasional bush" normally the conversation ends there

Titles are irrelevant, results are what counts.

tony wrote:
My response is "I have been known to trim the occasional bush" normally the conversation ends there

Hahahahaha, I wonder why conversation then just.. stops

Grtz,

Jelle.

ive always refered to it as "practicing bonsai" but my kids say "dads playing with his trees again"
telling someone you play with trees really isnt an option tho

tony wrote:

Titles are irrelevant, results are what counts.

thank you O wise one, end of quest

-keith- wrote:ive always refered to it as "practicing bonsai"

when will you stop practicing Keith and do it for real

tony wrote:Men... usually get asked.. "And what do you do?" with reference to employment.

My response is "I have been known to trim the occasional bush" normally the conversation ends there

Titles are irrelevant, results are what counts.

For some of us titles are important Tony as our results are not much to shout about!

Ahoy dere me harticulturalists . . . . . oooooooo shiver me timbers!