tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 13 10:36:48 1993

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Re: <<tlhIngan 'o' Humghach>>vetlh

>>I think the main confusion here is simply the slightly obscure reference.  I
>>know the song in question, but I'm not sure I would've gotten the joke even
>>with the *English*, without an explanation.

>It's more that the humor depended on a particular, recognizable quote (as
>did "Quoth the raven 'Eat my phasers'") which simply doesn't come across.
>The recognition hinges on the specific words ("quoth", "scrape off") or
>sentence structure, and the words in question are in *English*, so they get
>lost completely.  If there were some well-known standard translation of
>them into Klingon (like the KJV is a well-known translation of the Bible
>into English), it would word (as "Honor thy father and thy guinea pig"
>could conceivably be funny, since it recalls the well-known translated
>phrase, but without the recognition, it's just puzzling).

jIQochtaH.  Like I said, if I had been told the joke originally in English,
*with* the "scrape off", I still doubt I would've gotten it until it was
explained.  Though I agree about "quoth".

            --Krankor

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