New Japanese Words added to the OED

[Gyakuto]

My wife and I were chased down in the parking lot as we were leaving by a server who was unimpressed with a 20% gratuity. She asked if we really meant to leave so little.

What did you say to her? I’d’ve asked her what she did, beyond the expectations of her job, that would warrant a gratuity of any amount!

We've always given 20% and didn't think it was considered insufficient these days. When the total is small, we often give a higher percentage but never less than 20%.

That seems quite a good amount, to me.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

They are great down here. I get called Honey and Sugar all the time!

Yeah, but "bless your heart" doesn't mean what it seems to mean.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

That’s insane! How could they expect more than 20%? Makes me wonder about people….

I guess times are changing.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

What did you say to her? I’d’ve asked her what she did, beyond the expectations of her job, that would warrant a gratuity of any amount!

That seems quite a good amount, to me.

My wife was shocked and afraid she'd done the math wrong on the tip, but we were both flustered and embarrassed, so I handed her cash from my wallet. When we checked the receipt later on, my wife was angry because she had not done the math wrong, so we ended up overtipping by quite a bit. We have not gone back to the restaurant and won't.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

My dad was a luthier for about 50 years, restoring and repairing pretty much any kind of stringed instrument. But his favorites were pre-ww2 tenor and plectrum banjos. Any restoration he did was as light as possible to preserve the life of the instrument. The goal was never to make them look like new. Leaving the scars is important.

I think the idea of preserving the life of the antique is fairly universal. The specific technique of restoring ceramics using gold, et, is uniquely Japanese. And very beautiful.

Depending on condition, some car restorers now focus on keeping things as original as possible, including restoring old paint instead of repainting to look like new, etc. Coin collectors will tell you not to make your coins shiny and new, the patina matters. I've heard the phrase "it's only original once." Makes sense.

 

[Gyakuto]

Depending on condition, some car restorers now focus on keeping things as original as possible, including restoring old paint instead of repainting to look like new, etc. Coin collectors will tell you not to make your coins shiny and new, the patina matters. I've heard the phrase "it's only original once." Makes sense.

I had a rather special guitar amp re-valved (re-tubed) a few years ago and was told to keep the original valves (tubes) in case I wanted to sell the amp in the future!

 

[gyoja]

I guess times are changing.

I hear you. Sometimes I don’t recognize my own country anymore. Guess I’m just getting old.