Common lexicalizations

An important part of toki pona philosophy is that the speaker must think about what something is at its core before they can talk about it. Fixed phrases for specific things (also known as lexicalizations) are frowned upon, as they sidestep that aspect, while also forcing other speakers to memorize such combinations and making it difficult to use them to refer to other things. Nonetheless, some lexicalizations do creep into common usage. This page aims to catalog them and provide ideas for alternatives (which doesn't mean you shouldn't try to think of your own).

Featured in pu

Phrase	Meaning	Alternatives
toki pona	the language of good by Sonja Lang	toki ni, toki pi jan Sonja, toki lili, toki pi nimi lili
tomo tawa	car	ilo tawa, poki tawa, soweli ilo
telo nasa	alcoholic drink	telo pan, telo ike, telo pona
jan pona	friend	jan poka, jan olin (for close friends), jan mi
jan lili	child	jan kili (if as in offspring), jan sin (if as in young)

Time phrases

Phrase	Meaning	Alternatives
tenpo [suno/esun/mun/sike]	day/week/month/year	sike [], []
tenpo pini	past	tenpo majuna, tenpo tan, tenpo weka, tenpo kiwen, tenpo mama
tenpo ni	present	tenpo lon, tenpo mi, tenpo pi toki ni
tenpo kama	future	tenpo sin, tenpo tawa, tenpo pi sona ala, tenpo ken, tenpo kili

Other

Phrase	Meaning	Alternatives
ma pona	the Discord server ma pona pi toki pona	ma ni, ma pi suli nanpa wan, ma pi akesi Jan
jan sin	newbie, especially in a toki pona context	jan pi kama sona, jan pi sona lili
nimi sin	word created after pu/ku	nimi namako, nimi pi [pu/ku] ala, nimi nasa
kasi nasa	marijuana and its derivatives such as edibles, vapes	moku nasa, moku pi lawa weka, kasi pi pilin nasa, kasi pi wile moku
pana sona	to teach, teaching, education	mi pana e sona, sina kama sona tan mi
soweli tomo	pet	soweli pona, soweli poka, soweli mi, soweli jan
ken la	maybe	ni li ken
supa lape	bed	ilo lape, supa ko
kalama musi	music	musi kalama, kalama nasin, kulupu kalama, kalama pona