tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Nov 08 15:25:42 2001
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Re: Use of {jon} (was QQ22)
ghaHbe'wI':
: <<HeghtaHba'>> be' qan.
: <<HeghlI'ba'>> vIjon. nuq vuDlIj?
DloraH:
> jon? chay' {jon} Dalo'?
: {jon} "to capture".
: vaj mu'tlheghmey vIjon 'ej ghIq vIqon (qoj vIgher).
ghaHbe'wI' is right; {jon} is indeed used metaphorically in Klingon idioms:
In Klingon, opportunities are captured [jon], not taken;
a missed opportunity is said to have escaped [nargh]." (TKW 51)
I'd probably take an idiomatic approach incorporating the phrase
{nargh 'eb} "the opportunity escapes" ... This goes along with
other expressions such as {'eb jon} "he/she captures the opportunity"
or, more colloquially "he/she seizes the opportunity".
(MO on st.klingon 1/98)
: (Anyway, that's just me trying to get Klingon style, not just writing
: using Klingon language)
Don't worry about it. Too many people on this list read Klingon too literally,
hunting for grammatical and vocabulary errors. Literary style goes right over
the heads of some people; your attempt at style has escaped them, as it were.
<g> Keep it up.
Punctuation may help avoid confusion:
vaj mu'tlheghmey vI<<jon>> ... ?
Yech, that looks awful. How about:
vaj mu'tlheghmey <<vIjon>> ... ?
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons