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Re: [lojban] "General you"?



English has several idioms to cover general advice, "you" (particularly appropriate when intended for immediate application by a hearer), "one" (kinda pompous or disparaging) and "someone" (or even "a person"). Other languages handle the matter is other ways, similar or different.  The question is, how does Lojban handle it?  Prescriptively, the answer is: it's a variable, since it's general.  But the issue is whether using {do} is simply wrong -- and malglico -- or is a legitimate idiom that grows out of good Lojban usage (at some small cost to logicality, as with all idioms).  Personally, I'd stick with nice safe {da}, but I am not an active member of the Lojban speech community, so don't get a vote.



On Tuesday, June 9, 2015 3:31 PM, MorphemeAddict <lytlesw@gmail.com> wrote:


When I pointed out the indefinite 'you' in a Klingon example (bIje'be'chugh vaj bIHegh - If you don't buy, then you die; buy or die!), the rest of the Klingon list membership considered it just fine, as if it were just an example of regular 'you'. Maybe it is. 

stevo

On Tue, Jun 9, 2015 at 3:01 AM, Spheniscine (la zipcpi) <spheniscine@gmail.com> wrote:
I have recently become aware of my use of {do} for the "general you" and I don't think that's good; it's a common source of confusion in English. {doi ma}? Perhaps {lo'e prenu} (lo su'a prenu?) is better, but I wonder if something in KOhA7 might be useful? (maybe one of Curtis' infamous zmico already means that; but I can't understand their descriptions)

By the way in English, I think I'll try to use the word "one" instead of the general-you; it's a lost art. I can't tell you* how many times I've accidentally insulted people with the "general you".

*can't tell one? Well this also happens to apply to anyone who reads this...
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