What's a collection of senseis called?

[Bill Mattocks]

My wife asked me tonight, and I have no idea. She said "You know a gaggle of geese, a murder of crows, a pack of dogs, so what is a group of senseis called?"

I told her I had no idea and she suggested that if there isn't a term for it, there ought to be. She suggested a 'belt of senseis'. Sounds good to me.

Anybody?

And by the way, she also wanted to know what the plural for 'sensei' is. I guessed 'senseis' but what do I know?

 

[Xinglu]

If I recall correctly, most Japanese nouns do not have a plural form. So you may have one sensei or ten sensei, the spelling is the same.

"Senseis" would be correct using english spelling conventions, but it is a word imported from Japan, thus it is subject to Japanese spelling conventions. Otherwise why use the word, use the english equivalent (right?).

I would love to hear input from a native speaker, or someone fluent, as I only know enough Japanese to get myself mugged in Tokyo. :wink:

 

[David43515]

Well I`m not 100% fluent, but I`ve been here a long time teaching in junior high and high school. You`re right, most Japanese words don`t have a set plural form. There are a couple of suffixes you can add on the end of a word if you have to make it clear that you mean more than one. The ones used to mean several teachers is usually "senseitachi".

But the real problem is that Americans only think of sensei in terms of martial arts. Here school teachers, doctors, dentists, lawyers,etc are all reffered to as sensei. I even heard one of the cameramen who used to work with the famous movie director Kurasawa as "Sensei" in an interview.

but for a singular noun reffering to a group of teachers....belt sounds fine. Makes as much sense as a pride of lions or a murder of crows.

 

[jks9199]

What's a collection of sensei called?

An argument?

 

[Gordon Nore]

What's a collection of sensei called?

An opportunity to swap rank?

 

[K-man]

It depends! If they are wise, it could be a 'parliament', as with owls. If they are strong and aggressive, a 'pride', as with lions. If they are a bit all over the place, a 'gaggle' as in geese. But, for me, I will settle for a 'kata' of sensei as this is the term we use when we bow to multiple sensei, and it is in context. :asian:

 

[Bruno@MT]

An opportunity to swap rank?

A soke board?

 

[Cirdan]

A Wardrobe of Sensei, especially if they wear colorful gi, belts or a lot of patches.

 

[Brother John]

"my friends"


Your Brother
John

 

[Brother John]

.....OR.....

an association?
a "Mess" of sensei?


...yeah. I'll go with "a MESS of Sensei".

Your Brother
John

 

[celtic_crippler]

.....OR.....

an association?
a "Mess" of sensei?


...yeah. I'll go with "a MESS of Sensei".

Your Brother
John

LOL

I was thinkin' Abuncha

Abuncha' Senseis

 

[Sukerkin]

{groan!} Well done CC

 

[Stac3y]

A brawl? (was gonna say an argument, but someone beat me to it)

 

[Ken Morgan]

The one's I know, "A drunk of sensei"......

 

[morph4me]

The ones that I associate with should probably be called "an asylum of sensei"

 

[Aikikitty]

A seminar?

 

[CoryKS]

Chinese buffet line?


*ducks*

 

[dbell]

Chinese buffet line?


*ducks*

Sounds about right to me!!

 

[blindsage]

A clash of sensei?

I prefer to call my personal collection a yadoinitwrong of sensei.

 

[Touch Of Death]

A murder:ultracool Like with crows.