55 Comments
I know. Not only did everyone bully him at school, but now duolingo Esperantists read about him.
At least it seems less bad in Esperanto, since we seem to be saying "not handsome", but there is no other word for "ugly" - so it won't be long before even that is mean. Edit: see below, Clara_2134 is so right.
Wouldn't "not handsome" be more accurately described as "ne bela", since "ne" = "no/not", while "-mal" = "opposite"?
(Personally, I would say "ugly" is closer to being a complete opposite of "handsome", than "not handsome" is? Especially considering that we have a different word for "not" already?)
You are so right! So we are saying "The man is the opposite of handsome." It still seems slightly less harsh than "The man is ugly." One has to think, now what is the opposite of handsome, before one gets there? I think by that time the speaker might sneak away. It really isn't any better though. I would rather say "She is the opposite of tall."
Using manners or respect "La viro estas malbela." would be stated as "The man is unattractive.". Does anyone else agree?
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I agree, with you. I wish Duolingo would put it another way, instead of ugly. And I think unattractive would be another nice way to put it.
I do not like this insult. Physical appearance is far from being a person's most important feature.
Assuming mal- is the complete opposite of what comes after (bela - beautiful, malbela - ugly).
What does matter is the beauty from inside. And the external beauty is relative.
The prefix mal- Means the opposite of-. Esperanto uses positive adjectives, like Goodbona or BeautifulBela. Then makes it the opposite adding mal-... Malbona=Bad Malbela=Ugly. This makes your vocabulary a lot shorter and easier :)
It's not always positive adjectives, though; for example, fermi.
