tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Sep 28 21:13:17 1996
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"have mercy" idiomatically
- From: Steven Boozer <[email protected]>
- Subject: "have mercy" idiomatically
- Date: Sat, 28 Sep 96 23:13:11 CDT
- In-Reply-To: Your message of Sat, 28 Sep 1996 13:57:17 -0700
>96-09-28 12:06:16 EDT, vay''e' pongbe'bogh trI'Qal jang HoDma':
>>Looking at your second sentence, I think you are trying to say "have mercy".
>>I'm not sure if "having" mercy is idiomatic or not; I would suspect it is.
>>Hopefully, one of the people who know better than I will look at this, and
>>make a comment one way or the other [...]
jang SuStel:
>"Having mercy" is probably idiomatic, since one can "be merciful," mean
>exactly the same thing, and yet not *possess* something. However, there is
>at least one other example in Klingon (perhaps more), which exhibits this
>sort of idea:
> pIch vIghajbe'
>"It's not my fault." (TKD, opposite inside cover and p.170)
>I also seem to remember another example, but I don't know the reference:
> DIch vIghajbe'
>"I'm not sure." (ref: I may have made this up myself; DIch vIghajbe'!)
You probably did, I can find no canon on using DIch. I like it, though, as
an alternative to jISovbejbe' (cf. TKW: bISovbejbe'DI' tImer) or using
-law' on the verb. Has a nice ring to it (speaking of idioms).
>Anyway, it shows that one may "have" certain ideas, like "fault" or
>"certainty," and this idea might even extend to "mercy."
You may be onto something. The only canonical usage is <pung ghap HoS>
"Mercy or power" (TKW). This reminds me that we also have <HoSghaj> "be
powerful": <HoSghajqu'> "Too potent!" (CK) and <vay' DaghIjlaHchugh
bIHoSghaj> "Fear is power" (TKW).
>Here's one final reason that this sentence makes sense: since "mercy" is a
>noun, how else are you going to use it? There is no Klingon verb "be
>merciful."
Well, one can also "show mercy." One might say <pung vI'ang>, or even
<pung qa'ang>. We know that 'ang is used in another Klingon idiom,
namely <tIqlIj Da'angnIS> (PK) and <tIqwIj Sa'angnIS> (TKW & TNG "The
Icarus Factor"), from the nentay. (There are two other words for "show" -
magh and cha' - but neither seems appropriate here.)
But again, these *are* both English idioms and, as such, may not be
understood by non-English-speaking Klingonists. Which leaves us with the
same problem as before.
Assuming, of course, that Klingons would even say such a thing. {{;-)
Voragh