tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 24 10:38:02 1997
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Re: magh betrays ambiguity
- From: Guido <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: magh betrays ambiguity
- Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 13:37:57 -0400 (EDT)
>> That must be the most logical reason for it, I suppose. But logically,
>> wouldn't betraying sadness produce the look of happiness? This is why I
>> think this kind of idiom bleeding into Klingon is unlikely. Just a point.
charghwI'vo':
>No. The look of sadness is not betraying sadness. It is
>betraying the woman who would choose to withhold the appearance
>of sadness. The whole point of using this verb in this setting
>is to indicate that the degree of emotion extends beyond the
>choice of the bearer. There is enough sadness within her to
>spill out beyond the barriers she carries against revealing it
>to the outside world. She may hold back her sad words, but she
>cannot hold back the subtle language spoken by the muscles
>around her eyes. Her eyes literally betray her, telling the
>secret that she would choose to keep.
Thank you for the fine description of this idiomatic metaphor. While the
meaning is clear enough, what the words themselves say on their own is
another matter, hence the fallacy of idioms in translation.
>> "Black holes are where God divided by zero."
>
>And perhaps Guidos are where God divided by the square root of
>negative one...
In fact, that is only a special case, because more abundantly do Guidos lie
on the edge lining the inner shape of the Mandelbrot fractal. Glad you
allowed me to share that with everyone, and glad too that you've kept the
sense of humor which I never would have admitted to appreciating.
--Andrew