system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Wishes] Would simply stating that I didn't want anything bad to happen be good enough to protect me?

Let's take a look at Homer Simpson and his adventure with the Monkey's Paw.

If I had some sort of magical artifact or genie and it kept twisting my wishes to inflict evil or death or general chaos, could I just do what Homer did?

Make my wish and, as a run-on sentence, adding that I didn't want any negative consequences to myself or anyone else. Since that is technically a part of my wish, it has to grant that, right?

Example: "I want a non-poisoned turkey sandwich on with non-poisoned turkey meat on non-poisoned rye bread with non-expired and non-poisoned mayonnaise and non-poisoned mustard, and I don't want to get attacked by zombie turkeys, I don't want to turn into a turkey sandwich myself and I don't want any other weird surprises."

Or: "I want my son to come back to life completely uninjured with all of his memories and with his personality intact and in no pain and with no desire to kill anyone, least of all me, and he also appears next to his grave, so he can't suffocate in his coffin, yeah, you thought I would forget about that, didn't ya?"
gpt
Listen. Here is a rule of thumb: If the wish-granting entity is malicious, you're screwed no matter what. If it is benevolent, then it will try to adhere to your intent, rather than screw you over by the letter of your wish.

EDIT: Taking the Monkey's Paw as an example, the entire point of the paw is that it punishes its users, for they are defying fate with their wishmaking. No matter how you word the wish, it will come at some penalty or cost.