#baka

eye am the smartist

heres the original design in nov

Guys among us HAS A SHOW NOW

Karuma's favorite word

Oh, thank you for the question and the opportunity to shed light on this topic.

When I started looking for these moments in the cases, it seemed like there were many more; perhaps I was simply succumbing to false memories. However, it's surprising – she says the most variations of バカ – baka (which Karuma Mei uses in the original) during the court hearings of Case 2-2, that is, during our first meeting (seven times). Then she slows down a bit, and such tongue twisters appear only a few times during the case. Now I'll show you only a part of her arsenal (to keep things short and to keep the suspense up, haha), and then I'll add the second part. Let's begin.

First of all, I want to point out that the word 馬鹿 (バカ – baka) and all words derived from it carry multiple meanings, which depend on the context of use, the mood and personality of the speaker, and other subtleties. Here's an approximate list of the possible meanings this simple word can convey:

Fool, stupidity, nonsense, idiot, blockhead, absurdity, nonsense, idiocy;

if you add -na: foolish, stupid;

-ni suru: to lead by the nose, to mock, to make a fool of someone;

So it would be simply unfair to Karuma Mei to use just one, given her genius and desire to show off her intellect. Although she herself admits to being somewhat removed from Japanese culture (due to growing up in America), her desire to be perfect couldn't help but influence her knowledge of the language. Therefore, it was a strange decision to localize her «philosophical» statements as the rather harmless curse word «fool» and not change it in any way depending on what she said. And yet, this is the only way she juggles words, even though it seems like a hackneyed phrase to us. Let's take a look:

バカのバカさわぎほど バカげたものはない････。

Baka no baka-sawagi hodo bakageta mono wa nai....

Nothing is more idiotic than the idiotic commotion of idiots....

バカさわぎ (baka-sawagi): «a noisy drinking bout» or «senseless noise/commotion/excitement».

バカげた (bakageta): nonsense, ridiculous, absurd.

From the very beginning, she calls the 2-2 trial «senseless commotion» and tries to push her vision of the situation and convince the judge to dismiss the case and the lawyer to give up without a fight. Clearly, this not only fails, but also makes her escalate.

バカはバカのバカげた意見をありがたく聞くものみたいね････。

Baka wa baka no bakageta iken o arigataku kiku mono mitai ne....

It seems only an imbecile would so gratefully indulge in the imbecilic opinions of another imbecile... 

ありがたく (arigataku): «with gratitude/gratefully». This sounds extremely sarcastic.

････バカがバカにふさわしくバカなことを言ってるようね。

...Baka ga baka ni fusawashiku baka na koto o itteru you ne.

...A simpleton spouting simple-minded nonsense, just as fits a simpleton.

Well, here she switched to the Naruhodo, wrapping insults together with highly intellectual words.

ふさわしく (fusawashiku): «appropriately», «just as fits».

バカのバカによるバカのためのバカさわぎ･･

Baka no baka ni yoru baka no tame no baka-sawagi...

An idiotic commotion of the idiots, by the idiots, for the idiots...

There's a curious twist here: this phrase is a direct reference to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address's formula for democracy («and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth»). It's curious, though (I don't remember if they retained it in the localization).

････バカがバカなカオしてバカなユメを見てるようね。

...Baka ga baka na kao shite baka na yume o miteru you ne.

...A witless fool, wearing a witless expression, dreaming a witless dream.

Here she's using name-calling again, because バカなカオ (baka na kao): «stupid face» / «stupid expression». «Fool» here... sounds a bit soft.

バカのバカたるゆえんは バカバカしさゆえコトバにならず。

Baka no baka taru yuen wa bakabakashisa yue kotoba ni narazu.

The reason an idiot is an idiot is so idiotic that words fail to describe it.

Well, here she expresses herself just like a writer.

～たるゆえん (~taru yuen): a bookish, elevated expression «the reason why...»

コトバにならず (kotoba ni narazu): «beyond words».

バカのバカが度をすぎるとバカではすまなくなる。

Baka no baka ga do o sugiru to baka de wa sumanakunaru.

When a moron's moronic behavior goes too far, it's no longer just a matter of being a moron.

度をすぎる (do o sugiru): «go too far».

～ではすまなくなる (~de wa sumanakunaru): «this alone won't be enough».

バカが見るバカなユメに バカなユメを見るバカ････。

Baka ga miru baka na yume ni baka na yume o miru baka....

A dullard lost in a dull dream, observed by a dullard dreaming an equally dull dream of their own...

Here you can see a literary device called recursion – in which a phrase contains nested constructions that refer to itself or generate an infinite repetition of the structure. It's as if the intensity is increased by the constant repetition of references. «I know that you know that I know...» and so on. I'd tell you a horror story from my childhood that uses recursion, but that would be too long and unlikely to be understood, so let's forget it.   

････バカゆえに バカを演じるバカの悲しさ････。

...Baka yue ni baka o enjiru baka no kanashisa....

...The sadness of a half-wit playing the half-wit precisely because they are a half-wit....

演じる (enjiru): «to play a role», «to represent».

悲しさ (kanashisa): «sadness», «tragedy».

Why was more effort needed here? Simply because a simple «fool» isn't enough to convey the full range of derogatory pseudo-intellectual constructs May concocts to elevate herself before grown men. She's accustomed to intimidating opponents, as it was effective in the environment she found herself in as a child. Besides her whip, she has a sharp tongue, which she can't control, often saying things that are unacceptable. And being confined to the «foolish fool» category didn't make things any better – it ended up making it clear that her vocabulary of insults is extremely limited, and that doesn't preserve the tragedy of her early adolescence. It's like a gaping hole in her psychological armor – not strong enough, not vicious enough, not caustic enough.

The English noun-modifying expressive modifier damn can express not only a speaker’s negative attitude toward the target expressed in a noun but also the speaker’s negative attitude toward an entire proposition (=propositional reading)(e.g., Potts 2005; Gutzmann 2019). In this study, I investigate the Japanese noun-modifying expressive modifier baka ‘stupid’, and argue that unlike the English expressive modifier damn, it simultaneously conveys a negative attitude toward an individual expressed in a noun and an entire event within a single reading. This paper shows variations in and proposes a new typology of expressive modifiers.