tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 23 15:42:56 1996
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RE: hello
- From: "HurghwI'" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: hello
- Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 15:42:27 -0800
At 03:04 PM 12/23/96 -0800, you wrote:
>>Oh dear, here we go again.
>>
>>{nuqneH} is indeed the only standard greeting, but that doesn't mean you use
>>it the same way you use "hello." Klingons have social situations where it
>>is
>>correct to use {nuqneH}. Why would it mean "what do you want?" if it really
>>meant "hello?"
>
>I am only a beginner but it seems like a LOT of debate is waging over
>this simple phrase... Why would humans ask "what's up?" when they mean
>'hello'? Shouldn't this phrase (nuqneH) be taken as an idiom rather than
>literally? After all, nobody expects to see canines and felines hitting
>the ground just because "it's raining cats and dogs."
I would agree at least partialy with you, but we can't expect Klingon to
work that way. Klingons are direct, and not likely to bury their intentions
in idioms and figures of speech. The fact that Okrand referred to it as the
only greeting doesn't mean that Klingons use it like we would use any
greeting. It just means that when a Klingon wouldn't use this phrase, he
wouldn't say anything at all.
-HurghwI'