tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Oct 16 07:11:55 2003
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Klingon WOTD: puq chonnaQ (n)
This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Thursday, October 16, 2003.
Klingon word: puq chonnaQ
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: fork
Additional Notes:
From Marc Okrand on startrek.klingon (the Usenet newsgroup). 5/5/98.
The Klingon word for "fork" is {puq chonnaQ}.
As is well known, Klingons prefer to get food into their mouths without the aid of implements (except for such things as the bowl containing soup or the goblet containing bloodwine). Nevertheless, they have become acquainted with the eating habits of other cultures and have become aware of such things as forks. On occasion, they'll even use the implements, most commonly when partaking of a non-Klingon meal (whether on a Klingon planet or elsewhere) but sometimes when eating Klingon food, as if to add an exotic touch to the meal experience. (Not all Klingons are skilled in using forks, however, and some simply refuse to deal with them. Those who do not use them seem to be not at all troubled by eating "foreign" food using Klingon means -- that is, hands.)
The term {puq chonnaQ} is, at least in origin, somewhat derisive. It literally means "child's hunting spear," suggesting that the eating implement is small and not very effective (though the actual child's spear, as oppposed to the "fork," is useful for training in the art of hunting).
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--Holtej 'utlh
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