tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 27 16:15:27 2003
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Re: Hallmark BoP commercial
ngabwI' wrote:
> > vaj malopmeH tlhIHvaD nob SaSuqpu'.
> > So to celebrate, I've gotten you all a gift. (Hallmark)
>
>THERE ARE GREETING CARDS IN {tlhIngan Hol}???!!??
>AWESOME! Ahem. Forgive me. Where do you get them?
Alas, no. This is a reference to the TV commercial which aired here in the
US in the early 1990's for the Hallmark Bird-of-Prey Christmas tree
ornament. It was apparently co-produced by Paramount and featured Robert
O'Reilly and 2-3 other actors in authentic Klingon costumes and makeup and
was filmed on one of Paramount's Bird-of-Prey sets. They even hired Okrand
to translate the dialogue into Klingon. (Anyone remember the exact year?)
Here's my transcript of the commercial. O'Reilly (Gowron) walks onto the
BoP bridge and says:
Qapla'!
Greetings!
pIj maSuvpu' batlh maSuvpu' 'ej maQapbejta'!
In our many battles, we have fought with honor and achieved...VICTORY!
vaj malopmeH tlhIHvaD nob SaSuqpu'.
So to celebrate, I've gotten you all a gift.
The other crewmen then admire the ornament:
tlhIngan toQDujHom 'oH.
It's a Klingon Bird-of-Prey ornament.
toQDujna' rurchu'!
It looks so real!
Qapqu' wovmoHbogh janHommey!
It even has working lights!
The commercial switches to Federation Standard displaying the ship and
giving the sales pitch. After that we see the warriors apparently
ad-libbing gibberish to one another as they leave through the door.
Okrand discussed the commercial on startrek.klingon (6/18/1997):
I haven't seen the commercial in a while, but I don't think {wov} was
used as a noun there. Though the Klingons in the ad may have ad libbed
a bit, the phrase the one Klingon was supposed to say regarding the
little lights in the Bird of Prey ornament was {wovmoHbogh janHommey}.
That is, "little devices that cause (something) to be light or bright"
or "little devices that brighten (something)" or "little devices that
light (something) up" or the like. {wov} is a verb "be light, bright"
followed by the suffix {-moH} "cause" (thus, "cause to be light").
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons