Dear fellow Amateur Folding Boat Builders. From the old country it-very-self
comes the below definitive explanation of what "basteln" / "Bastler" means. I
forward this without permission and shall rely on your good services to ward
off the wrath of the attorney who concocted it -- he did berate me something
rotten for not coming up with a better translation myself:
[Cassels figures that "Raffia" (bot.) is a "needle bearing palm tree". "Bast"
originally refers the fiber on its inner bark, hence the below use of the
term ...]
Let's try to have a useful explanation and also a proper English word for
Basteln. The word itself goes back to the eighteenth century, so the
dictionary says. Bast simply means raffia.
There was a time in the fifties and early sixties, when people in Germany -
and perhaps other countries - began to buy raffia in his natural fair color
and to make things. Useless rubbish, like simple jam pots or e.g. test tubes
were wrapped around with raffia, connected together to form a vase for
flowers and plants. Beasts were made by wrapping raffia around a frame of
wire, preferred were giraffes and cats. These self-made items were given as
little gifts to the parents, the friends or bother and sister. The act of
wrapping or binding gave them all the proper name, .
Basteln means in the very sense of the word raffi-ing. Soon all kind of
privat handicraft and skilful work in the basement for private purposes, all
creation of items for the own hobby was called Basteln. The ordinary Bastler
(raffing-man) is a kind of character of his own. Often dreamers and
philosophers.
So a good translation of the word Basteln by means of existing English does
not exist. We have to make a new one.
My suggestion sounds as follows.
NOn Professional Sophisticated Enthusiastic BASement Handicrafts WOrk
Philosophie
NO P S E BAS HA WO P.
No one would use a word like nopsebashawop, this would be simply nonsense.
But everyone would like to say nops, nopsing and nopser. That sounds like a
good, proper and useful English word. Merriam Webster does not yet claim that
word for another meaning.
So why not use Folder-Nopsing for the self-making work with our boats and
the equipment.
Note - the web-site faltbootbasteln.de contains nowadays only a small part of
nopsing-ideas (especially the suggestions of mine). The main subject matters
are now Folding Boats in all dimensions, shape and form , historical and
other references. Jutta and Jürgen really enjoy the world of Folders and real
Folding-Nopsers and I am proud to help them occasionally wherever I can.
Good - Nopsing over the pond
(from me too -- Ralph)
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