tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu May 28 20:34:31 1998

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Re: Mark Okrand (fork/spoon)

>What did Mark Okrand say about utensils?  What are the utensils (for eating;
>fork,spoon)?

Actually he gave us those just a few weeks ago.

Here's his post again:


>        Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 23:33:15 -0400
>        From: "Marc Okrand" 
>Organization: Another Netscape Collabra Server User
>  Newsgroups: startrek.klingon
>  References: 1
>
>The Klingon word for "fork" is {puq chonnaQ}.
>
>As is well known, Klingons prefer to get food into their
>mouths without the aid of implements (except for such
>things as the bowl containing soup or the goblet containing
>bloodwine).  Nevertheless, they have become acquainted with
>the eating habits of other cultures and have become aware
>of such things as forks.  On occasion, they'll even use the
>implements, most commonly when partaking of a non-Klingon
>meal (whether on a Klingon planet or elsewhere) but
>sometimes when eating Klingon food, as if to add an exotic
>touch to the meal experience.  (Not all Klingons are
>skilled in using forks, however, and some simply refuse to
>deal with them.  Those who do not use them seem to be not
>at all troubled by eating "foreign" food using Klingon
>means -- that is, hands.)
>
>The term {puq chonnaQ} is, at least in origin, somewhat
>derisive.  It literally means "child's hunting spear,"
>suggesting that the eating implement is small and not very
>effective (though the actual child's spear, as opposed to
>the "fork," is useful for training in the art of hunting).
>
>The Klingon word for "spoon" is {baghneQ}.  Even though
>spoons were never typically used when eating, the word
>appears to have been in the language for a long time,
>suggesting that it may once have meant something else.  One
>theory is that it comes from {nagh beQ} "flat stone, flat
>rock" and that the initial sounds of the two words, {n} and
>{b}, were, for some reason, transposed.  This is, however,
>just speculation.

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