[lojban-beginners] Re: How 'natural' a language?

[sunnan@handgranat.org]

> On 11/4/05, sunnan@handgranat.org <sunnan@handgranat.org> wrote:
>> Speaking of mabla: I often look at it as being on roughly the same level
>> as "goddamn"; and often use it alone.
>
> Me too. I prefer the definition offered here to the official one:
> <http://www.lojban.org/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=mabla>
>
>> But jbofi'e often gives me some weird interpretations for mabla lujvo,
>> like
>> "derogative-form-ish-" X.
>>
>> Is malpre a workable insult, or am I missing how "mal-" works?
>>
>> It's not the fact that the person's a person that's bad, it's the fact
>> that the person is, for example, a fazna bebna.
>
> Right. As I understand it, {malpre} means something like "x1 is a
> deplorable / wretched / shitty / awful / rotten / worthless / contemptible
> kind of person (to x2)", not something like "x1 is derogatively called
> 'person' by x2".
>
>> (I've got a pet peeve about mabla - I often seen "mal" used when I'd
>> rather see "xla".)
>
> For example? {xlali} is something detrimental, harmful, pernicious,
> prejudicial to someone, the opposite of {xamgu} = beneficial. {mabla}
> is more general, low quality, worthless, distasteful.

But I want a gismu to exist that's intentionally "rude"; and when I see a
writer have someone use malpre when I'd think that character would say
xlapre, it's a pet peeve of mine.

E.g.:
"X is a downright s.o.b."
da malpre
"X is a bad kid"
da xlapre