tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Aug 09 13:39:01 1993

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tlhIngan mu'mey Qut

Here's something that I've been thinking about for while, and perhaps you
might be interested in it.  It may border on sacrilege (stepping on
Okrand's authority), but just take it as opinion.

We're given a dozen "offensive" Klingon words in TKD (countinnnng the ones
in the addendum), but we're never told what they mean.  We're given cutesy
"translations" like "*?!#@", and told in the tape that if we hang around
Klingons enough we'll be able to grok their meanings, but that doesn't help
us a whole lot in practice.  And after all, Klingon cursing is an art, and
those who have mastered it are held in high regard.  "Mastering" cursing
surely can't mean being able to yell obscenities loudly; it probably means
a fine control and understanding of the vocabulary (including, probably,
words we don't know) and using them well and appropriately, along with
curses and insults and other words of more mundane meanings.  In order to
make any sort of start at that, we have to have some notion of the
implications of the swear-words they have, to know when it's appropriate to
use what.  You'd never accuse someone of being a "shrewd moron"; the two
concepts don't fit together well.  "Moron" is more than just an insult, it
implies stupidity.

Now, it might be dangerously close to neologizing to assign meanings to
these unformed words Okrand gave us, but maybe it's far enough away to try
it.  At the very least we're not in danger of complete misunderstanding if
someone sees the words used without knowing these comments.  See the
disclaimer two or three times.

Here, then, are some comments on the "correct" usages of the Klingon
swear-words, what their connotations are, and when would be a good time to
use them.

A more organized person might have very carefully split up the semantic
space of curses and assigned each word with precision, but I'm not so
organized.  These words were often chosen for their task more by how they
struck my ear than any logical division of curse-space.  So they're
vaguely-defined, and overlapping.  Cope.

DISCLAIMER:  Unless otherwise noted, everything in this post is pretty much
out of my own head, with *NO* official weight behind it, and a fair amount
of my own prejudices and native-language influences.  That includes the
"correct" in scare quotes in the previous paragraph.  Nothing here is
cannonical.  Read this paragraph now and then before responding too
harshly.

Invectives:
===========

These words are used as exclamations, they stand as sentences in their own
right. (TKD Section 5.5)

QI'yaH:
  An expression of disgust and revulsion.  When your sensibilities are
offended by your surroundings, or someone's incompetence, {QI'yaH} lets
everyone know that you are just disgusted.  A good word if your qagh are
dead. 

ghuy'cha':
  According to CK, it's said "on receiving an unsettling communique'."  It
indicates a realization that something has just gone terribly wrong, and
the situation is now very bad.  Maybe not irreparable, but things are
definitely not going swimmingly.  Generally not used for things that are
the result of the incompetence of someone who can be yelled at, but more
for things that are out of your control.  Less an expression of anger than
discomfort (dare I say fear?).  The sick feeling in your stomach when you
watch your engine going critical.

Qu'vatlh:
  According to CK, it's said "in moments of extreme anger."  This one is
used for things that are more somebody's fault.  If you hear it, you can
hope it's not you the speaker wants to yell at, but be sure he'd like to
yell at someone (perhaps himself).

va:
  TKD says this is a short form of Qu'vatlh (addendum 5.5).  This is a
mild, general curse.  Can have its uses in serious situations as
understatement, and of course its force depends on how it's said, but it
can range all the way down to a sedate "Oh, damn" at mistyping something
correctable or dropping a book.

ghay'cha':
  Sounds a whole lot like {ghuy'cha'}, and is similar in meaning.  It's
somewhat weaker and maybe more polite.  Originally was a variant/euphemism
for ghuy'cha'. (check the disclaimer again).

baQa':
  Anger, can be self-directed.  Quite strong indeed.  I tend to see this as
a curse of first resort, what you say when something really nasty catches
you unawares.  I also tend to see it standing alone more than others.  You
might say "Qu'vatlh!  I missed!", but "baQa'" is less likely to have the
explanation attached.  Has a certain element of surprise in it.

Hu'tegh:
  Exasperation, usually with prolonged red tape or incompetence.  While
exasperation might be viewed (by some) as a mild form of anger, this curse
does not suffer from being necessarily mild.  It's more a curse of
impatience than anger or surprise.

jay' is pretty generic, used to add force to a whole sentence.  Often
combined with one of the "true" curses for emphasis. (Qu'vatlh!  narghta'
qama' jay'!)


Epithets:
=========

These words, we're told in TKD Addendum Section 5.5, are used for
name-calling.  I interpret that to mean that they're used vocatively, and
also that they can function in sentences as nouns (e.g. "PetaQ SoHbej!").
Here, we get into the idea of what Klingons view as unflattering a little
more than the invectives, since these are insults.

petaQ:
  Useless.  Garbage.  Non-functional.  Generally unable to get anything
done right.  A devastating insult to someone who has just made a muddle of
something.  I can also see it used for inanimate objects, like when your
computer gives out on you, but that's stretching it.

toDSaH:
  CK says this is used by Klingons "not on the best of terms."  It implies
foppishness, and softness and weakness.  I'd say "effeminate", but look at
the Klingon females! (and human ones, for that matter).  There's a certain
influence in my head from English "toady" at work here, so there's some
bootlicking implied as well.  Soft and flabby and spoiled.  I could see a
Klingon thinking of humas as toDSaHpu'. (OK to pluralize?)

taHqeq:
  CK says "stand back" if you say it; it's a "classic insult".  It means
you're saying the person is dihonest/dishonorable, evil, obnoxious, and
basically an unpleasant kind of creature to deal with at all.  No good
qualities.  This is really a catch-all for me, since the meanings I've
given the other epithets seem too narrow, and there's got to be more to
insult people about.  Immoral, matbe?  Doesn't necessarily fit the Klingon
ethos.

yIntagh:
  Stupid.  Dumb as rocks.  This is a direct attack at the intelligence of
the victim.  May have overtones of petaQ and toDSaH as well: soft, spoiled,
and utterly useless, with stupidity as the overriding factor.

Qovpatlh:
  Insignificant.  Beneath notice.  Useless due to worthlessness.  "Oh,
don't worry about the Qovpatlh of a captain on the enemy ship, he's not
worth considering."

I hope these have gotten some of my ideas across, and maybe you'll find
them interesting to think about.  Let me know what you all think, and
perhaps we can elevate Klingon cursing into the fine form it should be.

~mark

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