tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 15 12:53:10 1993
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Re: toQDuj
- From: Captain Krankor <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: toQDuj
- Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 13:52:19 -0700
Qu'vatlh, Qu'vatlh, 'ej Qu'vatlh!
The damn mailer decided it would be a good idea to cut off my post about
toQDuj. Let's try again:
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To: [email protected]
Subject: toQDuj
Somebody suggested that, since toQDuj is given to us as meaning a Bird of
Prey class vessel, that perhaps we can interpret toQ as meaning bird or
some such.
I strenuously disagree. All that we know is that this is what the
Klingons call this particular class of ship. We do *NOT* know that this
is a literal translation of the name or even that the Klingons think of it
as a bird of prey. "Bird of Prey" may well be a terran (or, more likely,
Romulan) naming. For all we know, to the Klingons this vessel resembles a
native Klingon sea creature, and that's what the toQ refers to. Or maybe
a toQ is a particularly sneaky thief who hides in the night (a reference
to its cloaking ability). Or even it could be that it was an 'aj named
toQ who secured the deal with the Romulans to get these ships. Or maybe
even toQ is an attempted Klingon transliteration of a *romulan* word,
which the roms use for a "bird of prey". In short, just because that's
how the Fed's describe the ship doesn't mean that's how the tlhInganpu'
describe it. Notice that the Fed's refer to the Enterprise as a
"starship", whereas in at least one of the movies (3 5 joq), the Klingons
call it a "battlecruiser".
In short, I'd really *like* it to mean "bird"-- it would be a useful word
to have-- but right now that's really reaching.
--Krankor