tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Oct 26 12:58:24 2006
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Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for 2006/10/23
ter'eS wrote:
>--- pm5 <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > DIlbot: {chay' qa'vIn law'qu' vItlhutlh 'e' vISov?}
> > Dilbert: "How can I tell if I'm drinking too much coffee?"
>
>We also have a verb {ghov} 'realize", which I like better than {Sov} for
>this usage.
{ghov} means "recognize" not "realize":
qablIj vIghov
I recognize your face. KGT
though it might work here. Realization though - that moment of passing
from not-knowing to knowing - is a perfect occasion for using {-choH}
"change in state": *{SovchoH}.
>Also, I know there's some controversy about this, but I think you have
>{chay'} in the wrong place. I read your current sentence as "How do I
>drink a lot of coffee; I know this." So I would make it: {qa'vIn 'Iq
>vItlhutlh chay' 'e' vIghov}.
To avoid the SAO controversy, use {-chugh} "if":
qa'vIn 'Iq vItlhutlhchugh, chay' 'e' vISov?
If I drink too much coffee, how would I know it (that)?
You could also drop {'e'} altogether:
qa'vIn 'Iq vItlhutlhchugh, chay' jISov?
If I drink too much coffee, how do/would I know?
or break it up into two sentences:
chaq qa'vIn 'Iq vItlhutlh. chay' jISov?
I may drink too much coffee. How do/would I know?
You don't really need an object pronoun. {jI-} can be used "when an object
is possible, but unknown or vague. Thus {jIyaj} 'I understand' can be used
when the speaker understands things in general, knows what is going on, or
understands what another speaker has just said" (TKD 33f).
> > DIlbot: {taj qaDuQ.} (3)
> > Dilbert: "I'd jab you with a used needle."
>
>{taj lam vIlo'taHvIS loQ qaDuQ}
>I qualified the verb with "a little" because a jab is not a full stab, IMHO.
IMHO to jab someone is to plunge the needle in suddenly {pay'}. How is
this different from stabbing someone with a needle? The depth of
penetration? You may be thinking of "prick", but even so the distinction
is probably lost on Klingons. (I can't imagine a Klingon doctor or nurse
pricking someone gently, can you?) Besides, have you forgotten your SeQpIr?:
cheDuQchugh mareghbe''a'
"Prick us, do we not bleed?" TKW
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons