# Do people really not get what a haiku is? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016 "2013-02-11T20:42:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/21 "2013-02-12T02:52:41Z")
Haiku, a form that Is to poetry as tic- Tac-toe is to games Evoke an image Syllable counting’s easy Wipe it off and zip ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/22 "2013-02-12T05:10:00Z")
Playoffs?! Don’t talk about _playoffs_! You kidding me?! (That’s a Mora). ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/23 "2013-02-12T07:25:19Z")
> [@picker](#): > > I once knew a man > and he came from Nantucket > but you know the rest Money in a pail and a larcenous daughter: Bad combination. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/24 "2013-02-12T12:41:32Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > I think it’s a bit subjective; I have a very hard time seeing how you can put any of [these award-winning](http://www.hsa-haiku.org/hendersonawards/henderson.htm) haiku in to a 1st-2nd-3rd ranking. > > I recall reading about a breathtakingly beautiful best-haiku-ever that was…one word. It was ‘mist’ or ‘fog’ or ‘veil’ or something like that. :dubious: This thread had a theme This post does not fit in here Now look what you’ve done ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/25 "2013-02-12T14:04:09Z")
_Haiku use contrast Like poetry and football five-sev’n-five – HAIKU_ > **[Haiku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku)** > > Haiku (俳句, listen (help·info)) is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 phonetic units (called on in Japanese, which are similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a kireji, or "cutting word"; and a kigo, or seasonal reference. Similar poems that do not adhere to these rules are generally classified as senryū. > Haiku originated as an opening part of a larger Japanese poem called renga. These haiku writte... ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/26 "2013-02-12T14:31:08Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The moon hits your eye > It’s like a big pizza pie > THAT is a morae That poem, though clever, Has something fishy in it. Wait, no, it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/27 "2013-02-12T18:36:23Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > This thread had a theme > This post does not fit in here > Now look what you’ve done My apologies; Wasn’t trying to threadshit. Look, a perfect moon. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/28 "2013-02-12T19:58:02Z")
I once had several kids in a row come to the library needing help because they had to write haikus about the Holocaust. Way to combine two required topics, teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/29 "2013-02-12T20:12:22Z")
Haiku is so hard so so so so so so so so so so so hard ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/30 "2013-02-12T21:02:14Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I once had several kids in a row come to the library needing help because they had to write haikus about the Holocaust. Way to combine two required topics, teacher. Was he trying to teach them the letter H? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/31 "2013-02-12T21:23:40Z")
I hate the expec tation that haiku sylla bles break nice and clean ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/32 "2013-02-12T21:25:08Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I once had several kids in a row come to the library needing help because they had to write haikus about the Holocaust. Way to combine two required topics, teacher. That may be the funniest thing I’ve ever read on the Dope. The absurdity just tickles me so. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/33 "2013-02-12T21:37:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Are the morae of haiku the same as the things that have characters associated with them? > > And why do we use a Latin name for them? Surely the Japanese have some name for the same concept? Write [On](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_(Japanese_prosody)). Although that link can be found in **CalMeacham** ’s link. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > . . . > > [Haiku - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/34 "2013-02-12T22:08:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Are the morae of haiku the same as the things that have characters associated with them? Yes, if by “characters” you mean hiragana or katakana (the two Japanese syllabic alphabets). Kanji (i.e., Chinese characters used in writing Japanese) often are spoken with two or three morae. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/35 "2013-02-12T22:31:19Z")
How long since Axis Powers tried to rule the world? Haiku NAZIs live. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/36 "2013-02-12T22:49:59Z")
Haikus are easy but sometimes they don’t make sense refrigerator ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/37 "2013-02-12T22:55:23Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Haikus are easy > but sometimes they don’t make sense > refrigerator Tsk Tsk. If posting Unoriginal poems Read the full thread first ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/38 "2013-02-13T02:54:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes, if by “characters” you mean hiragana or katakana (the two Japanese syllabic alphabets). Kanji (i.e., Chinese characters used in writing Japanese) often are spoken with two or three morae. Yeah, I can remember that Japanese has three different writing systems (or four, if you count romanji), but I can never remember which one is which. Are haiku traditionally written in one of the syllabic alphabets? If so, that would tend to give them a distinctive shape on the paper. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/39 "2013-02-13T03:21:43Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Haikus are easy > but sometimes they don’t make sense > refrigerator Haikus can address Many home appliance needs. Refrigerator. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016/40 "2013-02-13T05:05:34Z")
Oh Sudetenland Central Europe is real tough for writing haiku [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-not-get-what-a-haiku-is/650016.md?page=3)