SPALTED TAMARIND: FOR THE BENEFIT OF CHINESE CIGAR SMOKERS

Sometimes you can tell where someone is from even before they open their mouth. In this case, both mother and son looked like they were northerners, and when they spoke privately among themselves, their pronunciation had that furry rolling quality one associates almost only with Peking. Except for a few brilliant people in Chinatown who can fake it marvelously well.

The place where the bookseller and I have drinkies once a week is not a place where one may hear it, though. It is undoubtedly rare there. Usually what one hears is snarled Taiwanese Mandarin, and curse-word laden Cantonese. Both of which have their own charms, but they aren't decent Beijing-hua (北京話 'pak king waa').

The mother and son were indeed from Peking.
I asked, and they affirmed my guess.
Both were naturally pale.
Very northern.

One of the items which they ended up with was a Xikar Xi3ST.
That being a spalted tamarind double bladed cigar cutter.
一把漬紋酸豆木的西卡(牌)雪加剪刀。

Tamarind was easy to translate. Either "sour bean tree" (酸豆木 'suāndòu mù', 'suen dau muk') or "gauzy view thingy tree" (羅望子木 'luōwàng-zi mù', 'lo mong ji muk'). Either term is used for tamarind, which does not grow anywhere near Peking, so it makes no difference which name you use.
The brand name (品牌名 'pǐnpái míng', 'ban paai meng') is transcribed as "western wedge" (西卡 'xīkǎ', 'sai kaa').
The product is a "snow add" scissor (雪加剪刀 'xuějiā jiǎndāo', 'suet gaa jin dou').
Note: Cantonese transcription of cigar.


許多種的木材當受到外傷或真菌感染刺激會產生顏色條紋。
[Several kinds of trees produce variously hued stripes if they are traumatized by fungus or damage.]


There is no exact word for spalting in Chinese, but it can be described as "soak tracing" (漬紋 'zìwén', 'ji man').
漬紋 (淺顏色的木頭或深色)：如果感染了真菌，淺色木變成深色。
"'Spalting' (light coloured wood versus dark): if infected with fungus, the lighter hued material becomes darker".


Xikar is a great brand. Well-made, durable, and a life-time guarantee.
They also do cigar lighters; single jet, double, or triple jet.



Here in the San Francisco Bay Area (三藩市灣區 'Sānfānshì-wān qū', 'saam faan si waan keui'), Cantonese (粵語，廣東話 'Yuèyǔ', 'Guǎngdōnghuà'; 'yuet yü','gwong tung waa') is more widely spoken than Mandarin (國語，普通話 'Guóyǔ', 'Pǔtōnghuà', 'gwok yü', 'pou tong waa'), and usually far more useful. My ability with Mandarin is bollocky (真可怕的) at best. Hence the inclusion of the southern pronunciation after the pinyin.



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