Lojban On XKCD

[matt_arnold]

Comments

[rachelann1977]

So, is this a good thing?

[matt_arnold]

I consider this an awesome thing. We can definitely laugh at ourselves, and I expect exposure to xkcd's target audience (math, linguistics, and sarcasm) will result in at least one more Lojban enthusiast.

[metalfatigue0]

"zo'o"? "Attention! I am going to tell you a joke now!"?
Please.

[matt_arnold]

Yes. It's well-established custom in the Lojban-speaking community to tag a statement as humor if it could otherwise be taken as insult.

[metalfatigue0]

So it's not an obligatory morpheme?

[matt_arnold]

No, it's not mandatory to use it. Any Lojban utterance may rely on user interpretation as much as desired. It doesn't usually force a statement to be unambiguous, it merely allows it more thoroughly for those who feel the need to expend the effort to a desired degree of precision.