tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 04 17:08:55 1996

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Re: KLBC:law'-puS & more



peHruS writes:
>>>2) nuq.  petaQ SoH (What?? You @#%$)
>>
>>I reject this use of {nuq}.  I don't think it can be translated with this
>>particular meaning.  What *is* the real meaning of "What??", anyway?
>>{petaQ SoH} is a complete sentence, and it means "You are a {petaQ}."
>
>I have seen a reference to {chay'} as "What!?!" in this sense.

This reference is near the end of TKD section 6.4:
"The question word {chay'} "how?" may be used as a one-word
 sentence meaning "How did this happen?  What happened?
 What the--?"

It's not at all the same idea as "What?!"  One might say {chay'} upon
entering a room and finding the furniture smashed.  But "What?!" is a
response to someone's *telling* you unexpected or unwanted information.
I think it maps nicely to the colloquialism "Say what?" (accompanied
by the proper facial expression, of course).

be': bangoywI', jIyatlh.
loD: [poSqu'choH mInDu'] nuqjatlh?!

(chaq ghu'vam ghov Gowron :-)

-- ghunchu'wI'               batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj




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