tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Mar 31 09:49:14 1994
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'What did you call me?' reply
- From: "Kevin A. Geiselman, Knight Errant" <[email protected]>
- Subject: 'What did you call me?' reply
- Date: Thu, 31 Mar 1994 22:35:35 -0500 (EST)
Mark Shoulson presented an article in the most recent HolQeD on invectives
and epithets. I was just thinking of doing such a thing for my own
personal reference but he beat me to it.
However, his 'translations' are based solely on speculation. I went
through the same list, looking at the roots of some of them and came up
with some different ideas.
QI'yaH - Mark says it's an expression of disgust or revulsion. QI' is
military and yaH is duty station. QI'yaH might be more closely related to
disgust at doing a thankless job. Or something that is very risky. It
could be commentary on military bureaucracy stifling the warrior heart, a
duty that forces the one to sit at a remote computer terminal monitoring
Romulan broadcasts rather than storming across the border with disruptors
blazing.
Qu'vatlh - said in 'moments of extreme anger'. Qu' is task, vatlh is
hundred. Qu'vatlh, a hundred tasks. Certainly a curse at having many
things to accomplish and not enough resources to accomplish them. I
personally use this one in my own job.
petaQ - This epithet has the root taQ, to be weird. To call someone a
petaQ would be calling him some sort of weirdo or pervert. (prEEEEvert!)
toDSaH - has the elements of rescue and concerned. Calling someone this
would imply that they are concerned about having someone come to their
rescue rather than facing the business at hand. Always asking, 'when is
my shift over?''when will we get reinforcements?''why don't they send
help?' A coward.
taHqeq - this 'classic insult' uses taH, to continue and qeq, to prepare.
Someone who is always preparing but never acting. A procrastinator. (and,
by extention, a coward as well.)
yIntagh - yIn is to live and tagh is to begin. Calling someone this would
imply they are like a newborn, unknowledgable and unprepared.
And one I heard in the episode 'The Chase':
mo'Daq - Said like 'Holy Shit!', literally means 'in a cage' indicating
great surprise. Certainly, a Klingon finding himself in a cage would be
shocked and surprised.
Well, those are the ones that work out most clearly with the least amount
of speculation.
Kordite, Chief of Intelligence, IKV Dark Justice, Klingon Assault Group
aka Kevin A. Geiselman, Knight Errant