tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Dec 16 22:10:15 2001

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Re: KLI MUSH (was Re: language-less in San Diego)

lab qonwI'
 > not *KLI MUSH* vIghoS, 'ach qech QaQ 'oH 'e' vIQub. I've never been to 
the KLI > MUSH, but I think it would be a great idea. Would you have to be 
fluent in
 > Klingon to get anything out of it, or would it be a good place to learn?

Ah qonwI', it was fabulous.  You didn't have to have any degree of 
fluency.  Rank beginners and fluent speakers would gather together and 
practice for hours.  The intermediate speakers would watch and try and keep 
up with dictionaries while the advanced speakers chatted.  A beginner never 
had to ask someone to 'say that again', because it was all on the 
screen.  We explored puns and Klingon pig latin, and hokey dialects.  We 
expanded our vocabularies no end, because you could look up words without 
interrupting the flow of conversation and at times it became a bit of a 
pissing contest to introduce new or obscure words in natural conversation.

I sometimes taught real time "classes" in the MUSE.  All kinds of people 
would just stumble in and end up being taught Klingon.  When you connected 
and saw people chatting naturally, laughing (*jIHagh!*) or rpH! (ravDaq 
pum, HaghtaHvIS) and having real discussions, you saw that Klingon was real 
and usable.  When I first SAW people at my first qep'a' (wejDIch) I knew 
them already.  Even to the point that I recognized Seqram on sight, based 
on a basic description in Klingon, and the fact that he somehow walks like 
he types. :)

We learned to read typo, and deliberate obfuscation -- it was possible to 
connect a translator like pojwI' to the MUSE, and sometimes we felt our 
conversations were only for those whom we trusted.  For some reason, those 
who speak and understand Klingon have a mutual trust.

You will notice this is all in the past tense -- unfortunately the MUSE is 
no more.    I was already bugging Lawrence about how important a priority 
getting it back up should be, when this thread started.  Unfortunately this 
thread comes up so often it ought to be in the FAQ, if only there were an 
answer to "why can't we have the MUSH back?"

The feelings that come across this listserver -- grief and love, illness 
and exultation, personal dreams, moments of fury -- are proof that Klingon 
is real.  For some reason Klingon forces you to be more honest, allows you 
to be more angry, and brings you more satisfaction from your friends, than 
English does.  Perhaps it is because Klingon doesn't have a ready stock of 
platitudes and evasions, so you have to work a little harder and say the truth.

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