tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jun 01 07:44:27 2015
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Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: petaQ
> Klingon Word of the Day for Monday, June 01, 2015
>
> Klingon word: petaQ
> Part of speech: excl
> Definition: (curse) epithet, insult
Although it's the most widespread Klingon insult, Okrand first used it in a sentence in the *paq'batlh* AFAIK:
nItlhejbogh petaQmey tInuD
Look at these p'takhs at your side PB [sic!]
nuqDaq ghaH petaQ'e'
Where is the p'takh [...]" PB
petaQ'a' SoH
You dirty p'takh. PB
"*P'takh* ({petaQ}) is a Klingon insult, meaning something like weirdo, deriving from the verb to be weird (taQ), with the you (plural) imperative prefix (pe-). Alternative romanizations include *pahtak*, *p'tak*, *patahk*, and *pahtk*." (PB 70-1, footnote)
"No appropriate translation for this epithet has yet been found." (KCD)
First heard in TNG "The Defector":
Defecting Romulan General Alidar Jarok sees Worf in Enterprise's sick bay and asks Riker, "Tell me, how do you allow this Klingon *pahtk* to walk around in a Starfleet uniform?" Worf grunts something threatening and Jarok replies, "Get this *tohzah* out of my sight!" Riker smugly comments that "only a *veruul* would say that", thus trumping Jarok's knowledge of Klingon curses with his own knowledge of Romulan. (TNG "The Defector")
MORE EXAMPLES FROM TREK:
Duras is communicating with Arbiter of Succession Picard about the Sonchi-ceremony for K'mpec. He sees Worf, at the time discommended, enter the bridge. "Keep that *pahtak* away from the ceremony, Picard! He has no place on a Klingon ship." (TNG "Reunion")
J'Dan, a Klingon exobiologist working on the Enterprise, is suspected of sabotaging the warp core. As Worf escorts him to his quarters where he is to be confined, J'Dan tries to persuade Worf to help him steal a shuttle and escape in exchange for helping Worf to regain his honor. Worf is silent, but when they reach their destination he hits J'Dan several times and snarls at him, "I don't know how you transferred secret information to the Romulans, but I will find out!" The man spits out "{petaQ}!". Worf continues: "And when we inform the High Council, they will put you to a slow death!" (TNG "The Drumhead")
Worf says there's evidence of a Klingon having been abroad a Federation outpost, where messages have been stolen. Klingon governor Torak isn't pleased: "You still try to blame us!" "Have the courage to admit your mistakes," Worf says, "or are you a *lo'Be Vos*?" "At least I don't wear the uniform of a *p'tak*!" Torak retorts. (TNG "Aquiel")
Kahless has apparently returned from the dead but Gowron is not a believer. As he is transported aboard the Enterprise, Picard is there to welcome him. "Where is he, Picard?" "I assume that you're referring to Kahless." "I am referring to the filthy *pahtk* who's using his name!" (TNG "Rightful Heir")
Quark has been kidnapped and awakens in a room in the presence of Tumek, an elderly Klingon. "Where am I?" ... "You are in the ancestral home of what used to be known as the House of Kozak." "What's it called now?" "Kozak died without a male heir... the house no longer has a name." "What about Kozak's brother, D'Ghor?" "That *pahtak's* name is not spoken in this house! He is no brother to Kozak! His family has been a sworn enemy to this house for seven generations!" (DS9 "House of Quark")
Three Klingons come down laughing from Quark's holosuites and notice some Romulans sitting around the table. They surround the table and Morka speaks: "Who let these filthy *p'tahk* in here?" Another replies "Maybe we should show them the way out" (Visionary)
"Klingon" B'Elanna rescues weak and timid "human" B'Elanna from the Vidiians, telling her to "Get up, *p'tahk*!" when she regains consciousness after fainting. (VOY "Faces")
Kor calls Worf "this traitorous *p'tak*!" (DS9 "The Sword of Kahless")
Worf throws a thief he caught onto Odo's desk saying, "This *p'tak* just robbed my quarters!" (Bar Association)
Regent Worf growls to Mirror-Garak, "So this is the *p'tak* who lost Terok Nor to the rebels." (DS9 "Shattered Mirror")
B'Ellana categorically rejects Tom Paris' suggestion regarding Ens Vorik: "I am NOT helping that Vulcan *p'tak*." (VOY "Blood Fever")
The Doctor's holo-son Jeffrey shouted, "I'm going to become a warrior and I can't do that if I'm being led around on a leash by some bloodless *patahk*!" (VOY "Real Life")
"I'm leaving." "Not till you have completed the ceremony, *p'tahk*!" (VOY "Day of Honor")
B'Elanna comments: "They say that the doctor who operates on himself has a *p'tak* for a patient." (VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy")
B'Ellana talks with an old acquaintance from the Academy: "What did you use to call me?" "*P'tak*." "I'm not the *p'tak* I used to be." (VOY "Equinox")
Gen. Korok warns Axum: "*P'tak*, I'll rip your heart out!" (VOY "Unimatrix Zero, Pt. I")
[K'Tar] glared at Qua'lon, then spat on the floor. "You {petaQ}! Your men have ransacked my home. Taken my belongings, my treasures, beaten my son, dRacLa." (KCD novel, p.166)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
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