tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 09 10:38:44 1998
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RE: KLBC -- Glass eating!
- From: SuSvaj <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC -- Glass eating!
- Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1998 13:45:36 -0500
At 09:31 AM 11/9/98 -0800, you wrote:
>: lab Michael:
>: > I live in a college dorm, and there is a posting up which has
>: > "I eat glass, it does not hurt me" in many different languages;
>: > unfortunately, I can't find a Klingon word for glass (I assume
>: > they would be able to discover the process of making glass...).
>: > Here's how I've translated it:
>: > Dochmey jej vISoplaH, mu'oy'be'
>: > I am able to eat sharp things, they do not hurt me.
Well done. There is no real need to be that literal here. "Sharp things"
puts brings out the basic meaning just fine.
SuSvaj
>:
>: We do not know the word (if there is one at all) for glass, so there's not
>: much we can do. Someone suggested something with <HIvje'>, but <HIvje'> can
>: refer to any drinking vessel. Most of the Klingon drinking vessels we have
>: seen on TV have been metal, and most of the rest looked ceramic.
>
>That's the danger of a too literal reliance on the glossary, where "glass
>(tumbler)" is translated by {HIvje'}. As pagh has mentioned, this refers to
>the container (*any* drinking vessel), not the material it is made of. Not
>that I doubt that Klingons have a type of glass, we just don't know the word
>for it. Okrand explains {HIvje'} in Klingon for the Galactic Traveller:
>
>"A container from which drinks are consumed is a {HIvje'}. This word is used
>for any sort of drinking vessel: glass, cup, mug, stein, goblet, tumbler, and
>so on. If necessary, {HIvje'} can also be used to refer to drinking vessels
>normally not associated with Klingon culture--for example, crystal stemware.
>Since certain drinks are typically associated with certain containers, saying
>the type of drink plus {HIvje'} indicates the type of cup or glass as well:
>{'Iw HIq HIvje'} ("bloodwine glass"), {qa'vIn HIvje'} ("coffee mug"),
{baqghol
>HIvje'} ("bahgol cup"). Unless specified further, {HIq HIvje'} ("liquor
>glass")
>usually means a tankard or stein for beer or ale. ... Some drinks are
>served in
>special containers, such as the {runpI'} ("teapot") used in the making of
>{Dargh} ("tea"), and are then poured into the appropriate {HIvje'}." (p.98f)
>
>and:
>
>"Tea may be made either in a teapot ({runpI'}) or directly in the teacup
>({Dargh HIvje'}, or, if not a cup specifically designed for drinking tea,
just
>{HIvje'})." (p.96)
>
>
>To get back to Michael's wish to "eat glass", try substituting another
>substance, say {qutmey} "crystals" or {qut lughorlu'bogh} "broken crystal".
>
>The use of "crystal" as a substitute for glass is not so farfetched. We
aften
>refer to fine glassware as crystal. And, as it happens, today is the
>anniversary of "Reichskristallnacht" -- the centrally-organized Nazi
pogrom on
>the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938 throughout Germany. They called it
Kristallnacht
>("crystal night") because after the windows of Jewish homes and businesses
>were
>shattered by stone and brick-throwing thugs, all the shards of glass on the
>streets glittering in the lights reminded people of broken crystal. Some
>witnesses even thought it was quite pretty, in a macabre way.
>
>: pagh
>: Beginners' Grammarian
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________________
>Voragh "Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
>Ca'Non Master of the Klingons lis est." Horace (Ars Poetica)
>
>
>