tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Feb 25 10:54:06 1999

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RE: Dap naQ




I'll comment on a couple of things...

> Can we translate {Dap naQ} as "utter nonsense"?

Why disregard the more obvious {Dapna'}?

> wa'Hu' ghol jotlhpu' ghaH.

Do you really mean that, as of one day ago, her "taking down" was completed?  Or are you
simply going for "yesterday she took her down"?  If the latter, the perfective {-pu'} is
not necessary.  I also suspect you are intentionally using {jotlh} in a way you suspect is
incorrect, in order to point out the ambiguity of TKD definitions that have no other canon
usage to demonstrate the correct meaning.  I will take the bait and boldly state that I do
not believe {jotlh} is intended for this meaning.  To "take down" an opponent is an idiom
in English, and we cannot assume the same idiom applies in Klingon.  (Unless you mean that
the opponent was hanging from a wall, and was "taken down."  But I doubt it.)

> juHwIj vIcheghDI' Hurghqu'.

Do you really believe {chegh} is transitive?  How does one return a home?  This isn't
simply provocative, it's wrong.  {juHwIjDaq jIcheghDI'...}

> bochbe'.

Hmm, I wonder what wasn't shiny.  Why not {wov} or {Hurgh}?  If we're talking about a
light, or some other luminescent thing, I'd expect {wov}.  (Quick aside: I got a huge kick
out of 7 on Voyager last night, when she remarked to Harry, after his skin visibly glowed,
"your epidurus luminesced."  :)  If something isn't a source of light, I'd expect {boch}
(as in, {boch ghIchraj} [TKD Useful Expressions] or {ghIchwIj DabochmoHchugh, ghIchlIj
qanob} [PK Insert]).  If you're just talking about ambient lighting, I'd expect {Hurgh}.

That said, I have *no* idea what you're talking about here.

> DaH SIrghDaq qetlaHbe' 'ul.

You've got to be kidding.  We know that {qet} at least means "run", as in a person running
(cf. {qaStaHvIS wa' ram lOS SaD Hugh SIjlaH qetbogh loD}, [TKD Useful Expressions, TKW p.
127]).  There's no evidence it can be used in the sense of "running electricity."

> SIrgh chu' vIchoHpu'.

When I first read this, I thought you were explaining that, at some time in the past you
had somehow changed the wiring, and this is what caused it to be broken.  But reading on
it looks like you intend this to mean that you did something to fix the broken wiring at
the time which is "present" in the story.  If this is the case, {-pu'} is incorrect here.
If you fixed it, {tI'} would work great here.

>  vaj paw jIlwI'.

When I read this, I thought that your fixing your own electricity resulted in the
interruption of your neighbor's electricity.  Thus, your neighbor arrived (to complain).
But it looks more like you mean just, "...and then my neighbor arrived."

I don't get the idea that {vaj} indicates a temporal "and then" by the definition "so,
then, thus, in that case."

> juHwIjDaq jIchIDpu'

I had admitted in my house.  You totally lost me with this one.

You know what?  I can't read any more.  Nearly every sentence contains something unusual,
incorrect, or intentionallly atypical, or is incomprehensible (as that last sentence.)
It's too hard.  You're not communicating.  I gave this an honest try.

If you have something you want to communicate, I'm all ears (in English or in Klingon).
If you're just trying to be "clever" or to prove a point about the language, it's too
tiresome for me.  I can just picture you, going down the word list examining definitions,
looking for words that have alternative, but not obvious, English meanings, and applying
them to your writing in an effort to show us how closed off we've become by accepting the
most straightfoward, obvious meanings.  Meanwhile, we manage to communicate with these
meanings fairly well, and I don't think you're really communicating at all.

I'm not trying to be nasty or ill-tempered.  peHruS, you *started* by admitting (in your
home or elsewhere) that you were doing things that were unusual or unattested.  I'm just
saying that it makes your writing unreadable, and it's not worth the trouble for me.

-- Holtej 'utlh



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