sudanglo:
But if context doesn't make this clear, aren't there plenty of ways of rephrasing to make the meaning clear without the head-achey use of 'maljam'?

Check out this part in PMEG: nur

- see the explanation under the box of examples:

Antaŭ tempopunkta esprimo oni devas normale uzi sole por la signifo “neniu alia”, ĉar nur tiam signifas ne pli frue ol: Mi iris tien sole dimanĉe. Mi ne iris tien en alia(j) tago(j). Mi iris tien nur dimanĉe. Mi iris tien ne pli frue ol dimanĉe. Se temas pri ripetaj okazoj oni ankaŭ povas elturniĝi per: Mi iris tien ĉiam nur dimanĉe. ...ĉiufoje nur dimanĉon.

= Before a time expression you should normally use 'sole' for the meaning 'nothing else', because 'nur' then means 'no earlier than':

Mi iris tien sole dimanĉe = I went there only on Sunday (not on any other day)

So this kind of clears things up, as long as people get into the habit of using 'sole' when needed. And then I suppose the assumption would be that 'nur dimanĉe' has the meaning of 'not until Sunday' or 'no earlier than Sunday'.

I have a sneaky suspicion that people are not generally aware of this distinction though, and so they would often use 'nur' in both situations. This obviously makes things a bit confusing, but who knows, maybe we can all get into the habit of using 'sole' and 'nur' in a consistent way to avoid misunderstanding?

sudanglo:
1. I can't see you before tomorrow (but I can see you then)

2. Tomorrow is the only day I can see you.

So, those sentences could be translated as such:

1. Mi povas vidi vin nur morgaŭ

2. Mi povas vidi vin sole morgaŭ

Or, if you're not feeling confident about people making the right assumption about the meaning of the first sentence, then perhaps you could say:

Mi ne povas vidi vin ĝis morgaŭ.

How about that? Just some ways of avoiding the headache-inducing 'maljam'! To be honest, though, I can fully accept why some people feel the need for a way of translating the German 'erst', it's just the bizarre combination of 'jam' and 'mal-' that bothers me. 'Jam' is difficult enough to learn how to use properly, with its various nuances etc, even without then making it all even more mind-boggling by throwing in the 'mal' version!

I'd almost prefer to have a new word altogether if people feel it's important enough - how about we just say:

Mi povas vidi vin erst morgaŭ!

I could say that much more happily than 'maljam'. The latter just gets my head all messed up with a myriad of interpretations of what on earth it could mean!

I just thought I'd resurrect and hijack this thread to report something I've just seen on youtube. I started typing "man and machine" to get the song by UDO, and at "man and" I got the following predictive options:

man and woman having sexuality in bedroom
man and woman making a baby in bed without clothes
man and woman making love in bed
man and woman having sexuality in bedroom without cloths

What kind of people are the youtubers!?

Here's real bummer - heard at the London Esperanto club. Mal-metroo to refer to the overground railway as opposed to the underground.

Roberto12:What kind of people are the youtubers!?

Grammatically challenged learners of English/Primary school kids that are too innocent to realise that youtube blocks pornography and won't let you watch M (Australian unrestricted 15yrs) level material without having an account (e.g. swearing, violence, disturbing footage)?

I wonder if "viro kaj ino" will pop up anything similar?

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Malmetroo, awesome word. I know, I'm normally a fairly anti-mal person (see what I did there?), but colloquially that word is great value!

Mal-metroo is an abomination.

It is not at all clear whether this word should refer to an elevated railway (found in some American cities), the normal rail lines that feed into London, or those parts of the London Tube in the suburbs where the line surfaces and runs in the open air.

sudanglo:Mal-metroo is an abomination.

It is not at all clear whether this word should refer to an elevated railway (found in some American cities), the normal rail lines that feed into London, or those parts of the London Tube in the suburbs where the line surfaces and runs in the open air.

Normally a metro (metroo) is defined not by the fact that it is underground but by the fact that it is separate from any other traffic (including road traffic, so there can be no intersections with roads).

A malmetroo could be any railway that is not separate from other traffic.

sudanglo:Mal-metroo is an abomination.

It is not at all clear whether this word should refer to an elevated railway (found in some American cities), the normal rail lines that feed into London, or those parts of the London Tube in the suburbs where the line surfaces and runs in the open air.

Hardly an abomination for being an unclear word - I mean, what the heck is a "London tube", it's not even generic slang, it's an established nickname! (I do know it's transportation infrastructure and not a feeding device so don't tell me )

ceigered:

sudanglo:Mal-metroo is an abomination.

It is not at all clear whether this word should refer to an elevated railway (found in some American cities), the normal rail lines that feed into London, or those parts of the London Tube in the suburbs where the line surfaces and runs in the open air.

Hardly an abomination for being an unclear word - I mean, what the heck is a "London tube", it's not even generic slang, it's an established nickname! (I do know it's transportation infrastructure and not a feeding device so don't tell me )

"Tube" seems to be used on the Transport for London website, so we can consider it semi-official.