tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Sep 13 11:55:07 2000
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Klingon WOTD: lang (v)
Voragh:
>"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)
DloraH:
: In the word list (KGT) we also have stew
: soup (thick)(n) - chatlh
: stew (n) - tlhIq
Good catch. I had completely forgotten this.
: So, perhaps to say that the soup is thin, call it stew.
I don't think so. If anything, {tlhIq} - at least {qagh tlhIq} - is even
*thicker* than {chatlh}:
"If, for some reason, the {qagh} cannot be consumed before they all
die, the entire mixture of {qagh} and {ghevI'} is saved and later
heated up as a sort of stew (the general term for which is {tlhIq};
thus, {qagh tlhIq} may be translated as '{qagh} stew'). Although
not as desirable as live {qagh}, this is a common way to serve
leftovers." (KGT p.??)
Note that {ghevI'} "sauce for {qagh}" is described in KGT as a "thick sauce";
so thick, in fact, that it has become a simile: {jeD; ghevI' rur} "thick as
qagh sauce". To be sure, though, we'd have to know what utensils (if any!)
Klingons use to eat {chatlh} and {tlhIq}: if it's thin you'd use either a spoon
{baghneQ} or, more likely, just drink {'ep} it out of the bowl; if thick, a
fork {puq chonnaQ} or your hands.
"Eating is done with hands only. There is no Klingon fork or spoon.
If the cook has prepared the food properly, there should be no need
to use a knife either, though, from time to time, one is quite
useful." (KGT 99)
"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), it will arrive at the table in a large bowl (maHpIn)
and a diner will pour [qang] its contents into a smaller bowl (Duq),
from which he or she will consume it. 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)
Which is why I thought that telling the cook that you drank {tlhutlh} the soup
s/he prepared would be a fairly subtle (for Klingons!) insult.
"As is well known, Klingons prefer to get food into their mouths
without the aid of implements (except for such things as the bowl
containing soup or the goblet containing bloodwine). Nevertheless,
they have become acquainted with the eating habits of other cultures
and have become aware of such things as forks. On occasion, they'll
even use the implements, most commonly when partaking of a non-
Klingon meal (whether on a Klingon planet or elsewhere) but sometimes
when eating Klingon food, as if to add an exotic touch to the meal
experience. (Not all Klingons are skilled in using forks, however,
and some simply refuse to deal with them. Those who do not use them
seem to be not at all troubled by eating "foreign" food using Klingon
means -- that is, hands.) ... Even though spoons were never typically
used when eating, the word appears to have been in the language for a
long time, suggesting that it may once have meant something else."
(startrek.klingon 5/05/1998)
And, just for the sake of completeness, we also have the verb {Qev} "stew" from
KGT:
"Some dishes are prepared by heating meat in a liquid consisting
of the animal's blood along with some choice condiments. To prepare
food in this way is to {Qev} it. Livers of bokrats are typically
prepared in this manner. Though the dish is heated, in order to
properly make {boqrat chej Qevlu'pu'bogh} (stewed bokrat liver;
literally, 'bokrat liver that has been stewed'), the livers should
be from an animal that was killed only minutes before. The
difference in flavor between fresh and nearly stale livers is most
noticeable." (KGT 93)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons