Mike Murray wrote in message . ..
On 13 Aug 2003 05:00:57 -0700, (David Ames)
wrote:

What the well-known GM said, in German, was: "Gegen diesen Idioten
muss ich verlieren!" Now I am no expert in German language, but it
seems to me that he meant: "I *would* have to lose to this idiot!" As
I see it, it was principally a *self*-deprecating remark.

If calling the opponent an idiot is mostly self-deprecation, then how
to construct a real insult?


You are reading "to this idiot" as the self-deprecating portion of the
remark and that is of course not correct. "I *would* have to lose"
assigns the blame to the person speaking.

David Ames

Years ago, I witnessed a game where a local NM lost to a young
up-and-comer. As he resigned, he quivered in fury and hissed,
"Biyiasis, you played so *stupidly* I couldn't concentrate!"