tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Nov 01 11:42:44 2002
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Re: trick or treat
Tim wrote:
>How would one translate "trick or treat"? My first try;
>
> qatoj pagh yIjegh
"I trick you or you surrender!"
Hmm. What you're trying to say is:
bIjeghbe'chugh qatoj.
If you don't surrender, I'll trick you.
or, on the model of the famous {bIjeghbe'chugh vaj bIHegh} "Surrender or
die!" in TKD, you can add {vaj} "so, then, thus, in that case":
bIjeghbe'chugh vaj qatoj.
I think the extra syllable sounds better, balancing out the four-syllable
{bIjeghme'chugh}. YMMV.
>then I thought;
>
> toj pagh jegh
"Trick or surrender!" (clipped imperatives?)
>a little closer to the original English and the clipped has a good feel
>like Trick or Treating could be thought of as a boarding exercise.
If you want to stay closer to the English subtext ("if you don't give me a
treat..."), then you can say:
vay' chonobbe'chugh vaj qatoj.
If you don't give me something, (then) I'll trick you.
using the "prefix trick". Also, the {vay'} and {vaj} provide some
alliteration. For {vay'} "something", you can substitute {pop} "reward",
{tev} "prize", etc. Although there's no general word for "candy", {yuch}
"chocolate" is useful:
"Despite the general absence of sweet foods from their diet, Klingons
tend to be quite enthusiastic about {yuch} (chocolate), at least in
its purest forms." (KGT 85)
However, keep in mind that
not toj tlhInganpu'
Klingons never bluff ("Klingons never deceive"). TKW
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons