tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jan 14 19:22:48 2001
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RE: Klingon targs (was RE: Grammar Highlight Each Day (-Daq = into,onto, to, toward))
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alan Anderson [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2001 5:58 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Klingon targs (was RE: Grammar Highlight Each Day (-Daq =
> into,onto, to, toward))
>
>
> ja' De'vID:
> >I think that targs are compared to dogs not because of how they look
...
> >but
> >because of their function in Klingon society, i.e. they are pets,
> >they are kept by children (we know from TNG because Worf had one),
>
> Pigs and cats and ferrets and hamsters and snakes and turtles and
> birds and
> many other animals in Terran society are kept as pets. I'm afraid "pet"
> doesn't imply "dog" to me.
>
> >and they can be trained to attack, sit, etc. (which we know from PK).
>
> I don't remember that animal being identified as a targ. (That's twice in
> one day that I've wanted to review PK. I can see I'm going to have to sit
> down and make myself an easily searched transcript of the tapes.)
I recorded it onto mini-disk, set track markers and labeled each track so I
can jump to stuff like this. Indeed, the instructions specifically say that
"these commands are effective for a variety of animals". {targh} is only one
of three animals Worf mangled^h^h^h^h^h^h^hmentioned.
> >They *function* like dogs, even if they don't *look* like them.
>
> "Heart of dog" is not a traditional dish.
Many parts of the Orient consider dogs to be delicacies. I know of a friend
who had a friend who left a dog behind in China. When the dog's previous
owner later contacted the family he left his dog with, he asked, "How's the
dog?" The answer was "Delicious."
> Except for the "pet command"
> stuff, which I'm not convinced refers to targs at the moment, I see them
> fitting the "pig" function a lot better than they fit the "dog" one.
While Vietnamese Pot-bellied Pigs make good pets (I've met a family that
kept one and it was pretty amusing), I can understand the parallel between
American dog-pet culture and Klingon targh-pet culture. We are basically
comparing apples and oranges and grapes here when we discuss pigs, dogs and
targhs. Klingons eat targh hearts. Do they eat targh bacon? targh chops?
targh chitlins? Will a targh retrieve a toQ you shot down? Do Klingons race
targhmey?
Guys, WE DON'T KNOW.
targh neH 'oH targh'e'. Dog 'oHbe'. Pig 'oHbe'. I'm sure a targh would be
insulted to be compared to either animal, and I'm sure a Klingon would be
repulsed from the idea of having either a dog or a pig as a pet.
> -- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh
SarrIS