tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jun 15 16:35:07 1998
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qay'be' usage
- From: Robyn Stewart <[email protected]>
- Subject: qay'be' usage
- Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 14:41:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steven Boozer <[email protected]>
>>qay'be' "(It's) Not a problem!" (This phrase is often >>used here
when a
>>Terran
>>would say, "You're welcome". Of course, a Klingon >>would probably
just
>>grunt
>>an acknowledgment -- if s/he was in a good >>mood.)
>
>I wonder. It's how we use it on this list, because "no >problem" is a
fairly
>common English cliche, but is that how Klingons >really use it? The
only
>example I can think of with any context (perhaps >you can provide
something
>else, Voragh), is when the Klingon demands >{cha'SaD DeQ. DaH yIDIl!}
"Two
>thousand credits. Pay now!" and the Terran replies >{qay'be'} "No
problem!"
>(I believe I'm remembering that scene correctly.)
>
>We're told that {qay'be'} is a good way to show one >of the four
ideals of
>Klingon behavior—probably aggressiveness. I >honestly don't think
it's a
>cultural equivalent of "thank you." If anything, it's >their way of
saying,
>"I'm cool."
I remember hearing, I *think* from Marc Okrand himself, that {qay'be'}
was created in honour of a member of the tech crew on one of the movie
sets who said "no problem" in response to all requests. By that
logic, it means "I can do that/did that/will do that wthout
difficulty." A friendly boast.
(This is a temporary account -- [email protected] was already taken --
that I'll be using until my computer is working again. Here's a
drawback I didn't think of to having a permanent connection: no
computer -> no ISP access).
[email protected]
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