Re: qISmaS

["Mark E. Shoulson" <mark@kli.org>]

>From: "Andeen, Eric" <Eric.Andeen@Sequencia.com>
>Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1999 11:26:02 -0700 
>
>jatlh romulano@webtv.net
>> 
>> Would the Klingon word for Christmas be "qISmaS"?
>
>The Klingon word for "Christmas" would be "Christmas". Since Christmas is
>not a Klingon holiday, there is no word for it in Klingon, just like there
>is no American English word for the Irish holiday of Samhain.
>
>If forced to transliterate "Christmas" into something pronouncable in
>tlhIngan Hol, I would go with <QISmaS> rather than <qISmaS>. The Klingon
>sound <Q> is often used for words that begin with sounds like "kr" in
>English.

Yeah... I mean, the Hebrew term for Christmas is <Hag ha-molad> (the H like
Klingon H, the h like English h).  Nothing that sounds at all like
/krIsm@s/.  If you want to *transliterate* it, yes, as above works okay.
Is that what Klingons studying Terran culture call it?  I wouldn't presume
to say.

What's the English word for Purim (the Jewish holiday)?  Or for that matter
orangutan and taco?  (but by the same token you can't always assume
transliteration)

~mark