tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Oct 31 12:21:05 1996
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Re: Oh dear
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>Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 11:05:01 -0800
>From: "Donald E. Vick" <[email protected]>
>
>> (Luckily nobody has, yet, picked up on Krankor's "sandwich" idea.)
>lutvam vISovbe'. qechvam yIDel!
Kahless' qIvon, why do you people do this to me?? :) Wasn't 'I' enough?
Seriously, though, be very careful. I don't want to have to answer people
asking about the status of these "neologisms"... especially considering how
hard I keep trying to keep people from using unconventional and unattested
forms in tlhIngan Hol!
But they were mentioned, it would be unfair not to tell the stories.
First, "yID", which someone asked about. The story:
In February 1993 (I think... The same time the World Trade Center was blown
up), there was a party in Seattle for some people who knew each other via
various computer networks. I was there, and so was DrujIv (Letty Smith, a
past [present?] subscriber to this list and builder of the city on the KLI
MUSH). Krankor was flying in one evening, to meet all the rest of us at a
restaurant. This is a story in itself, since you must understand that it
was *Krankor* flying to Seattle from Boston, not his Human alter-ego. He
flew the whole way in Klingon regalia (he may have "channeled" for his
Human self a little, since Krankor speaks no English, only Klingon), with
another friend of ours, who made the whole trip in a full-body cow costume.
When we got to the restaurant (before them), we told them we were still
expecting two more people for our party. "Can you describe them, so we'll
know who they are to lead them to your table?" they asked. "You'll know.
Trust us," was all we said. Sure enough, some time later they led a
Klingon and a cow to the table, saying "You said we'd know..." So we all
had a great time. Krankor sat at one end of the tabel with me and DrujIv
and spoke only in Klingon. We had to translate for him for the waitress.
(This meeting at the restaurant, incidentally, was written up in an article
in Time Magazine which hangs on my refrigerator, about Klingon. Well, it
was mentioned in the first paragraph.) Although not religious, Krankor is
Jewish by birth, so my wife had crocheted a yarmulke (a skullcap worn by
religious Jews [I wear one]) for him. It was black with Klingon trefoils
and the name "Qanqor" in red written in pIqaD (She later made a similar one
for me that says Seqram). Inside, the inscription read "Qapla'". Krankor
looked at it, asked what it said (he didn't/doesn't read pIqaD), smiled as
only he can smile... put it on his head and said "DaH jIyID!" (Note in
case this isn't obvious still: "yid" is the Yiddish word for "Jew", also
appropriated into English slang, though as a pejorative term. Krankor here
was punning, treating yID as a Klingon verb for "to be Jewish.") I laughed
so hard I hit my head on the table and cut my forehead open. I can thus
literally and truthfully say I had a conversation in Klingon and have a
scar to prove it (this became more true later, e.g. at qep'a' cha'DIch when
I cut my thumb open while eating a coconut).
Now, for the sandwich:
This was at qep'a' wejDIch. We had all gone out to eat at a nearby
restaurant. Again, I was at Krankor's table, and again he was speaking
only Klingon, and I was translating for him. He got across that he wanted
the swordfish ("'etlh bIQ Ha'DIbaH...") but then was asked if he wanted the
sandwich or the platter. This is a toughie. He looked at me and said
"*HIlel vIneHbe'." This one took me a few minutes, but I'm proud I got it
at all. You must understand that when Krankor and I get together (and
we're VERY different people in form and temperament and almost everything),
something very strange happens. Somehow, our neurons manage to
interconnect, despite the fact that there is physical space between us.
There's a weird gestalt that forms, causing one thought to happen in both
our heads at the same time. The same happens (separately) with Krankor and
Lawrence, btw (but not with Lawrence and me. It's something about
Krankor). It wasn't instantaneous, but using our joint mind I could see
what he was thinking. Hold on tight. In the Passover Seder (a festive
meal traditionally eaten on Passover) there is a part called "korekh"
wherein you make a sandwich out of matzah (unleavened bread) and a bitter
vegetable. This is done to remember the tradition of the sage Hillel, who
used to do the same when eating the Passover sacrifice (no longer offered)
in order to fulfill the commandment of eating it "together" with matzah and
bitter herbs (turns out there are other ways he could have done it; the
Hebrew verb isn't specific to sandwiching). Krankor remembered that in his
house they make a fuss about how it was therefore Hillel and not the Earl
of Sandwich who invented the sandwich (frankly, I doubt either of them
did. You don't have to be a genius to put stuff between slices of bread),
and so used that term. And so I worked out what he meant, informed him I'd
kill him for such convoluted punning, and translated. And then explained
how the hell I got that meaning. :) (he'd already indicated he didn't mean
"take me out," btw).
OK, long run for a short slide, but might as well keep the legends alive...
~mark
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