Re: Chelsea

[Steven Boozer <sboozer@midway.uchicago.edu>]

At 07:49 AM Friday 7/12/02, you wrote:
>> >tar lungHom = cobra
>>
>>Any particular reason you chose lungHom as opposed to ghargh'a'?
>>
>> >is ghargh'a' more correct, and should it be preceded with "tar?"
>
>{ghargh} is glossed as 'serpent, worm' (TKD).  lung is glossed as 'type of 
>animal, loong (lizardlike)' (KGT).  I would guess that a lung has legs, 
>whereas a ghargh does not.

Agreed; a {lung} is a type of lizard or lizard-like creature.

Okrand goes into some detail in KCD on the distinction between {ghargh} - 
which refers to serpent worms as animals - and {qagh - which refers to 
serpent worms alive but with seasonings and sauce added, served as food, 
and which is never pluralized.  {ghargh} is used in such phrases as {ghargh 
HIq} "worm wine", {'Iwghargh} "bloodworm" (e.g. {reghuluS 'Iwghargh} 
"Regulan bloodworm") and {ghargh HIq} "worm wine" (e.g. {pubtaHbogh ghargh 
HIq} "boiling worm wine" [PK]).  *{ghargh'a'} is used for "snake" in the 
KLI Gilgamesh.

Let me quote some miscellaneous canon:

"Klingons generally {Sep} (breed) small animals such as {gharghmey} 
(worms)." (KGT p.89)

"Although lung is translated as 'lizard', it actually can refer to any 
animal of that general shape, such as a newt or salamander." (KCD audio)

"... a {lung} is not really a dragon, but that is a close approximation." 
(KGT p.49)

"The small eggs of the Tokvirian skink ({toqvIr lung}), however, are often 
eaten whole, shell and all, usually by the handful." (KGT p.88)

{Duran lung DIr} "Durani lizard skins" are edible, and are "served dried 
and thinly sliced. Discovered by a Klingon military unit stranded on Durani 
I for six months without supplies." (KCD)

>Since you wish to refer to a poisonous snake, tar is probably the best way.

{tar} "poison" is a noun, and can probably be used for "toxin", "venom", 
etc.  We also have the verb {SuQ} "be toxic", and it can probably be used 
for "be poisonous", "be venomous", etc. (perhaps with the use of {-qu'}, 
{-chu'}).  There's a potentially relevant proverb in "The Klingon Way":

   bIQapqu'meH tar DaSop 'e' DatIvnIS
   To really succeed, you must enjoy eating poison.

If a cobra is a "poisonous snake", you could say {tar ghargh'a'} 
"poison-snake/serpent" or {ghargh'a' SuQ} "toxic snake/serpent".



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons