tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jan 18 21:51:49 1998

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Re: Unofficial words (Was: Re puqpu')



ja' peHruS:
>bounce (v)  The ball bounces.  The child bounces the ball.  The photon beam
>bounces back off the ship's hull.

I asked which one of four meanings you wanted.  You give me examples of
three of them. :-/  (You missed the concept of a "bouncer" at a bar.)

rav mup moQ 'ej Salqa'.
ravDaq moQ vo'taH puq' 'ej jonqa'taH.
Duj Som HotchoH tIH 'ach begh Da Som vaj tIH tlhuDqa'law' Duj.

>degree (n)  The surface temperature of Rura Pente is minus 100 degrees.

Oh, you want to quantify temperature.  I don't know any Klingon scales for
this, and neither does anyone else here, so if I wanted to communicate, I'd
probably pick one I and my reader were familiar with.  Celsius, perhaps, but
more likely Farenheit.

>axis, spindle (n) = botlh    Center, middle??????????  I think of an axis as
>something on which a planet or other sphere rotates.  I think of a spindle as
>something on which an object rotates.  Since {jIr} appears to be transitive, I
>cannot fit it in when I wish to say "Qo'noS rotates on its axis once every 26
>hours 35 minutes Earth time."

Do you really want to say "Kronos rotates on the thing on which it rotates"?
What does a planet rotate on except its axis?  I've always thought that was
a pretty silly phrase.  {DIng yuQ} "a planet rotates on its axis".

>be beyond  (sv) = veb     {veb} means "be next in a series".  I want to say
>"Kling is located beyond Deneb at coordinates -321.5, 48.6, -87.9."  {Hur}
>might work in some situations, not this one.

"Kling" Hop law' "Deneb" Hop puS.

>plasma (n) = 'Iw bIQ    Don't think so!  Plasma of blood is a straw-colored
>substance, not the water.  Besides, I apologize for not making it clear to you
>that I wanted to have a word for the physical substance.  There exists solids,
>liquids, gases, and plasma.

The first time the concept is introduced: {tatmey neH ngaSchu'bogh SIp tujqu'}
After the idea was understood, I might call it {tatna' SIp}.

>tip, point, end (n) = nItlhpach    Given that {nItlhpach} literally means
>"finger claw", i.e. fingernail, I don't think it works so well.  "We see the
>end of the tunnel."  "The glob fly lands on the tip of the twig."  "The point
>of the needle is so sharp it can pierce metal."

mev 'ogh 'e' wIlegh.
naQHom HeHDaq Saq ghIlab ghew.
jejqu'mo' "needle", baS DuQlaH.

The needle is sharp; the sharp spot *is* the point.  There's no need to say
{jej taj HeH}; {jej taj} is sufficient.

>slide, glide (v) = vIH, nech     Nice try.  Not descriptive enough, though.
>{vIH} merely indicates being in motion; and, {nech} indicates only motion
>sidewise, laterally.  Neither of these words covers the idea of sliding or of
>gliding.  If the gliding is by an aeroplane-type device in the air, I still
>need a word for "hover" as well.

If you're going to continue to try to bring in every possible nuance of a
single English word, I give up.

>bridge, span (n) = Dung He    I like it in its restricted sense.  I want to
>say "Events are the bridge over time."

To this, I can only respond:  bIbomchugh, yIbomchu'.

>"The tree trunk acts as a span over the chasm."

This "span" is just {He}.  {Qorgh'a' DungDaq He Da Sor ro.}

>deflect (v) = way'     Works only or parrying a lunge by an opponent using a
>weapon.  Ships have deflectors {begh}.  How do they "deflect" anything, such
>as torpedoes?

Simple.  They do what deflectors do.  {begh Da 'oH.}

-- ghunchu'wI'




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