tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Sep 20 08:34:17 1997
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: [KLBC] RHOTS
- From: [email protected]
- Subject: Re: [KLBC] RHOTS
- Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 11:33:44 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 97-09-20 10:26:32 EDT, ghunchu'wI' wrote:
> >{pagh wagh Sagh Qagh wagh Dogh}
> >"Nothing costs more than an error."
>
> Huh? I recognize the words, and the grammar, and it indeed *translates*
as
> what you say. But what do you intend it to *mean*? I think you're
relying
> on English idiom here. Look at it the other way and see what happens:
> "A mistake costs less than nothing does." The meaning seems backwards.
>
> There's an old joke that relies on this idiomatic ambiguity:
> "How can a chicken sandwich be better than complete happiness? Well,
> nothing is better than complete happiness, but a chicken sandwich is
> certainly better than nothing."
>
> -- ghunchu'wI'
To me, the phrase is merely (intentionally) ambiguous - using the "law'/puS
construction without the law'/puS", translated it would be something like,
"Nothing's expensiveness is many, an error's expensiveness is few." This
could mean "There is nothing is more expensive than an error," indicating
that an error is the most costly act of all. Or it could be translated as
you said, "A mistake costs less than nothing does." In this second case, I
would look at it with the meaning "It is less costly to make a mistake (when
trying something new, since you might possibly learn something from the
experience) than to do nothing at all (and learn nothing from any mistakes
you would make)." This resembles the ambiguity of the phrase {Dal pagh jagh}
from TKW p. 201.
{vaj Qaghlu'DI' peQuch!} Hmm... For some reason, I don't want to have
one verb here with an indefinite subject, and then use the imperative with a
definite plural subject. It seems really weird and contradictory, however to
use imperative prefixes with the suffix {-lu'}. That is, it seems to me that
could you use {yIjeylu'} to mean "Be defeated!", but it would be impossible
to use something like {yIQuchlu'} "Be happy" that would be said to people in
general, instead of a defined group. Just a thought.
-Tad Stauffer
{pagh wagh Sagh Qagh wagh Dogh}
"Nothing costs more than an error."