Originally Posted by
Chris Stewart
She and I have been over that ground a few times now, since that is clearly not an answer that would satisfy anyone with any curiosity. To boil a few half hour explanations down to a few sentences, first, whatever it says (particularly if it's in English) don't take it literally. It doesn't really mean anything specific. As she explains, the Japanese are a very visual people - the writing is pictographs (you look at the character for "school" and you are supposed to see a child inside a building. The character for tree looks a bit like a tree, the character for woods looks like several trees and the character for forest looks like even more trees.). Instructions almost always come with extensive diagrams.
Often the names of rods, or in this case the "infinite potential blanks" are meant to create a mental image, a very pleasant visual image in your mind's eye. The name of one of the rods I used to carry translated as "gentle breeze." If you take it literally you wonder "what's that got to do with fishing?" If you think of it as the company intended, you picture yourself by a quiet stream on a summer afternoon, the birds are chirping, a couple butterflies go past, there are puffy white clouds in a bright blue sky, and yes, there is a gentle breeze that feels oh, so nice on a day that is just starting to get warm. You don't have a care in the world and you don't even care if you catch fish. But you do catch fish. Ahh, life is good.
Infinite potential blanks - just think of the fish you will catch with this rod and how the soft tip will dance with every head shake. Walter will rise from the depths, inhale your spoon, and turn before he realizes his mistake. The soft tip will keep just enough tension on the line so the scary sharp hook will prevent him from throwing it when he jumps. And yes, he'll jump - probably several times before you gently slide him into your net. If only it was a tournament day, he'd surely win first prize. You could catch any fish in the lake with this rod, even with your favorite 1.2 pound test line. It has infinite potential.
That's kind of what it means.