I’m doing a translation of a song called “I See Red” and I’m wondering what an equivalent metaphor or idiom would be in Klingon – I’m not sure that the direct translation would be appropriate given that Klingons do not seem to attach symbolism to particular colours in the same way as humans. However I would like to keep the metaphorical aspect if possible, instead of doing a translation like “I see red” –> “I get angry”. What are your thoughts on this?
Off the top of my head, the only color-based idiom I can recall is:
There is also an idiomatic phrase which conveys the idea of jealousy: SuD veqlargh mInDu’. Literally, this means Fek’lhr’s eyes are yellow/green, but it is used to express the idea that somebody is jealous. It would be used in an exchange such as:
A: loSmaH romuluSngan SuvwI’pu’ HoHta’ qeng.
B: SuD veqlargh mInDu’.A: Kang killed 40 Romulan warriors.
B: Somebody is jealous! (Fek’lhr’s eyes are yellow/green.)Speaker “B” is saying that speaker “A” is jealous of Kang.
http://klingonska.org/canon/1999-09-holqed-08-3.txt
There is an idiom for being angry, though:
Similarly, the phonetic identity of Qay’ “use the little toe” and Qay’ “blow one’s top, lose one’s temper” is probably not accidental, as evidenced by the idiomatic expression ‘oy’qu’ Qay’wI’wIj, literally “my little toe aches a lot” (‘oy’ “ache, hurt,” -qu’ “emphatic,” -wIj “my”), which means “I’m extremely angry.”