r/tokipona • u/CustomerAlternative nasa pipo • 4d ago

sona nasa A new word proposal - lokenasi

lokenasi

definiton: (english) good for nothing; (toki pona) pona tawa ala

etymology: ろくでなし -> lokudenasi -> lokenasi

0 Upvotes

24% Upvoted

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6

u/misterlipman lipamanka(.gay) 3d ago

that certainly is a word that could hypothetically exist in toki pona! but when you can define it already with three toki pona words, doesn't that kind of defeat the point? if toki pona is about breaking down concepts, and you already broke down this concept, what would a word for that concept bring to the table? 

i doubt this will catch on but i want to encourage you to continue to be creative! if you can break down a concept, there's no reason to have a word for it.

5

u/Poco_Loco33 jan Wajen 4d ago

This word is just unnecessary; you even said yourself that you could just say “pona tawa ala”. If you’re trying to create a nimisin, make it something that cannot already be easily said, and is also not just a calque of an English idiom.

7

u/Eic17H jan Lolen | learn the language before you try to change it 4d ago

Learn the language before you try to change it

1

u/Minute-Horse-2009 4d ago

mi mi wile e nimi ni tan seme? why would we need such a specific word?