tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Sep 08 09:21:37 2000

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Re: Klingon WOTD: lang (v)



>  Klingon word:   lang
>  Part of Speech: verb
>  Definition:     be thin
>  
>  Additional Notes: Opposite of {pI'}, {ror}.

{lang}, {pI'} and {ror} have never been used in context, so we don't really
know the range of things they can refer to.  
 
peHruS:
: ... do we have a word for "thin" as in "the soup is thin." 
: Of course, there is {jeDbe'}.
 
"Not thick/dense/viscous".  Or {jeDHa'} if the soup's been diluted.  Why would
anyone want to do that?  Klingon soup is normally thick (probably closer to
what we would call stew):

  "If the particular dish is somewhat soupy (a dish of this kind is
   termed a {chatlh}, roughly translated as "soup", though the amount
   of liquid is far less than what the Federation Standard term "soup"
   would suggest)... Since this sort of dish is still primarily solid
   food as opposed to liquid, using the verb {tlhutlh} ("drink") to
   describe ingesting it is not quite right. There is another verb,
   {'ep}, which refers to eating food of this kind." (KGT 99f)

Thin soup has obviously been ruined by the cook:

  "All food is considered to be good in its natural state; it takes
   the intervention of a cook to ruin it. Thus, the word {'eyHa'}, 
   used to describe food that is edible but is not particularly tasty,
   means something like 'undelicious', implying that someone caused
   it to cease being delicious. For food that has been prepared
   particularly poorly, it is not uncommon to hear {Soj raghmoHlu'pu'}
   ('The food has been decayed' or "Someone has caused the food to
   decay') or the more pointed {Soj DaraghmoHpu'} ('You have caused
   the food to decay'), even though the food has not literally decayed.
   On the other hand, one may simply use the word {'up} (disgusting,
   repugnant)." (KGT 84)

Also consider {puj} "be weak", especially in the simile {puj; bIQ rur} "weak as
water" from KGT.  So, one might say of soup that's too thin:

  puj chatlhvam 'up; bIQ rur.  va, DatlhutlhlaH!
  This disgusting soup is as weak as water. You can actually *drink*
   the stuff!



-- 
Voragh                       
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons


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