Is it common to use the word "bonsai" as a verb as in the following passage? And what does it mean?
If you've ever crammed into the back of a Toyota with one or more males over the age of seven, you're likely familiar with the phenomenon recently popularized as manspreading.
A target of women's websites and public transit authorities, the practice involves the widening of a man's legs while seated such that those adjacent must bonsai themselves into what little sittable space remains in a bus or airplane row.
Source: "The manspreading epidemic: Is it really an epidemic?", CNN
Best Answer
Yes, it can be used as a verb and CNN used it that way.
Verbification in English is common and the linked Wikipedia article explains there are thousands of them:
When a noun like 'bonsai' is used in the linked article, there is no doubt that it is used as a verb as it follows the modal verb must and you should use a verb before the reflexive pronoun themselves to make sense.
The noun 'bonsai' comes from the Japanese noun ' 盆栽 ぼんさい' and it means
[Dictionary.com]
could be rephrased to
Related question: “To science the sh*t out of something”