A synonym for "bastardized" without the evil slant?

Question

With the following definition:

To lower in quality or character.

Synonyms found:

corrupt, pervert, subvert, demoralize, demoralise, debauch, debase, profane, vitiate, deprave, misdirect

However all of those have a very "intentionally evil" connotation. I would say more along the lines of "messed up", but it needs to portray that it's somewhat intentional, just not with the evil slant.

Intentionally done, but unintentionally wrong, is what I'm looking for.

Perfect Example:

My nick name on here is Aequitarum Custos, which is a "bastardized" Latin, it should have been Aequitatis Custos (the correct way to say what I wanted).

I intentionally created my nick like that, but had no intention to make it wrong.

Reason for desiring a synonym is due to the perceived obscenity of the word bastard by some people.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 · Accepted Answer

Most words which are synonymous with bastardized will probably have negative connotations, I would imagine.  Several that have been suggested (adulterate, debase, contaminated, pollute) all sound negative to me. The reason is that most of these things are not desirable things. Nobody wants contamination or pollution or something that's been reduced to its base form.

Thus I'd suggest other words that don't imply so much destruction:

twisted
broken
malformed
defective
unusual (as a euphemism)

F'x · Answer

I don't think debase, contaminate and pollute necessarily express negative intent.

chaos · Answer

Adulterate might be useful.  It still sounds dirty, but not as evil as contaminate and whatnot.

By far the best term for the specific situation of your username is Canis Latinicus.  A less specific and fairly neutrally descriptive term for bastardized language is simply broken.

If you'd like to lampshade the fact that you're bowdlerizing the term "bastardized" in order to placate the squeamish, I would suggest illegitimized.

user5862 · Answer

"Misuse"

"My nick name on here is Aequitarum Custos, which is a "misused" Latin"

Robusto · Answer

You might consider dilute or mitigate.

Benjol · Answer

I like 'borked' or 'borken' but I'm not sure if that passes the bar or not :)

JeffSahol · Answer

You fudged it: "to make or adjust in a false or clumsy way".

Tim Lymington · Answer

This particular example is dog-Latin (not to be confused with pig-Latin).  The word has a long history (17th century if not earlier), and means 'Latin words, but without the correct grammar or agreement'; seems ideal.

Kris · Answer

Dysmorphic I suppose. Though a basically a medical term exists with very narrow definition.

brendan · Answer

botched, but that comes along with a connotation of carelessness.

Wes Modes · Answer

If your intention is to say that something follows on from something else and, though changed significantly, relies upon the previous work without any suggestion of negativity, I'd suggest "adapted."

Does, this have the connotation you are looking for? It kind of depends on the context and audience.

saafirebutterfly · Answer

The above suggestion of 'twisted' led me to warped, then to changed, then to distorted. I find distorted to be a fitting substitute for bastardized in the context I was looking for.

A synonym for "bastardized" without the evil slant?

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