tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jul 27 16:57:50 1997
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Re: KLBC one simple question
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC one simple question
- Date: Sun, 27 Jul 97 19:35:34 UT
[email protected] on behalf of [email protected] wrote:
> What in the world does *qatlho'* mean??
>
> And where can it be found?
{tlho'} is in the Addendum of TKD. It is a noun, meaning "appreciation,
grattitude," and it is a verb meaning "thank."
{qa-} is a verb prefix meaning subject "I" and object "you (singular)." Thus,
{qatlho'} literally means "I thank you."
Now, we know that Klingons don't say "thank you." Michael Dorn tells us this
on one of tapes. ("'Please,' 'excuse me,' 'thank you,' and the like.")
However, many Earth-bound Klingonists feel the need to express this very human
sentiment. Thus, they take the word and use it in the expression {qatlho'} "I
thank you."
In fact, I feel that if you're going to express gratitude with this word,
you'd best do it in Clipped Klingon, like this:
tlho'
Thanks.
I just used the noun (or the verb, it doesn't really matter) and said it.
That said, I rarely, if ever, use the word myself. Usually, I like to use the
language as a Klingon would use it. Often a good, satisfied {maj!} is quite
sufficient to get the point across.
--
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97571.0