tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jun 02 09:36:36 1997

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Re: KLBC: Words for assassin & blade



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>Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 18:05:14 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Jim LeMaster <[email protected]>
>
>David Trimboli wrote:
>> 
>> [email protected] on behalf of Jim LeMaster wrote:
>> 
>> > 2) I have also seen discussion of an Assassin's Knife or an Assassin,
>> >    but find no entry for either "Assassin's Knife" or "Assassin."
>> >    Is there a specific word, or should it be translated something like:
>> >    batlhbe' HoHwI'  <one who kills dishonorably>
>> 
>> I see no reason to assume that Klingon assassins are viewed as having no
>> honor.  In fact, I seem to remember some source explaining that an assassin
>> (giving his target the chance to die honorably) is a respected figure in
>> Klingon culture.  (Anyone know where I'm remembering this from?)
>I would beg to differ on this one.  In the ST:TNG episode where Picard
>is to
>officiate the new member of the High Council.  There is a line (unless
>I'm totally
>mis-remembering, which *IS* a posibility) where the old member reveals
>that he is
>dying of a slow acting poison in his blood-wine. "Poison or an
>assassin's blade in 
>the back is not the way of honorable warriors!" is the line that sticks
>in my head.
>Anyone else remember this one (or got it on tape)?

Um, what's with the English-Klingon one-to-one correspondence you're both
presuming here?  Who ever promised there would BE a word (especially a
single word) for "assassin"?  What IS an assassin anyway?  You can't
translate what you don't understand.  Is an assassin a secret killer?  You
can try "HoHwI' pegh" is you like, though I don't much care for it.
Besides, secrecy isn't always indicated by the word "assassin."  John
Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln, but he did it in public.  Any killer of
a major political figure is called an assassin, his methods
notwithstanding.

What's a good Klingon word for "assassin"?  I'd go with "chotwI'" most of
the time, perhaps "HoHwI'" in some situations.  If I had to say that the
murderer acted secretly and underhandedly, I would say so, straight out,
and not try to cram all that meaning into the noun phrase.  Do you honestly
want to have to say "But unbeknownst to Kruge, there was a
one-who-kills-from-shadows hiding in the shadows behind him.  As he began
his speech, the one-who-kills-from-shadows aimed his pistol carefully and
fired, killing the noble captain.  The one-who-kills-from-shadows leapt
from his hiding place and cried out, 'I am a half-breed, and Chester Arthur
is now leader of the High Council!'"???  Wouldn't it make more sense to say
"There was a murderer hiding in the shadows behind him..." and just leave
it as "murderer"?  Why are we looking to mirror English in Klingon?  A
dishonorable killer is a dishonorable killer, a secret killer is a secret
killer, a slayer of a major figure is a slayer of a major figure, and it's
all pretty straightforward.

~mark



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