tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 03 12:48:43 2006
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Re: Klingon WOTD: butlh (noun)
qInor'rIq:
> > >Does {butlh} refer to dirt under fingernails only or also to dirt under
> > >toenails?
Voragh:
> > Unknown. Here are all the examples from canon:
> >
> > butlh DaHutlh
> > You lack dirt under your fingernails. TKW
> >
> > butlh ghajbogh nuv'e' yIHo'
> > Admire the person with dirt under his fingernails. TKW
> >
> > The Klingon word {butlh} (dirt under fingernails) can be taken
> > literally, but in this expression it means something like
> > "effrontery, impudence, brazenness". (TKW 142)
> > [cf. also {qajunpaQ} *kajunpakt*, "courage, audacity"]
> >
> > Related nouns include {nItlhpach} "fingernail" and {lam} "dirt".
> > AFAIK there's no word for "toenail", though I've seen *{yaDpach} from
> > {yaD} "toe" used.
qInor'rIq:
>Hm... Inevitably, ??{yaD butlh} springs to my mind which is - of course -
>beyond canon, I guess. Anyway - would it be understood?
*If* not specific to fingers, probably. If not, it would sound as strange
as saying "I stubbed my foot-thumb" instead of "big toe". You'll have to
ask Maltz.
>Or would we (talking about dirt under toenails) even need something more
>clumsy like {yaDpach
>butlh}?
Or even {qam butlh} "foot's {butlh}" to go up a level in anatomy. Another
option would be to use the noun {lam} "dirt" and the verb {lam} "be
dirty". E.g.
lam qamwIj.
My foot is dirty.
vs.
*yaDpach bIngDaq lam ghaj qamwIj.
My foot has dirt under the toenail.
*yaDpach bIngDaq lam tu'lu'.
There's dirt under my toenail.
... assuming (1) {lam} refers to grit and grime in general and not soil
from the ground {yav}, and (2) that {ghaj} can be used WRT dirt like the
TKW examples of {butlh} above.
Oh, I just remembered something somewhat analogous to {butlh} WRT feet:
{'atlhqam}, a type of edible foot fungus:
One way to bring fermentation about is to mix the food with a fungus
(known as {'atlhqam}) usually scraped off the bottom of certain animals'
feet, though it also grows on trees. [KGT 92]
N.B. Okrand doesn't say whether it can be found on the feet of people.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons