tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Aug 16 07:52:48 2004

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Re: Klingon WOTD: wIb (v)

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Saturday, August 14, 2004.
>
>Klingon word:   wIb
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition:     be sour, bitter, tart
>
>Additional Notes:
>KGT gives "bitter", "tart".

As used in canon:

   vaj Dargh wIb DatlhutlhnIS.
   Then you need to drink sour tea. CK

   Hoch vor Dargh wIb.
   Sour tea cures everything. CK

As discussed:

   The usual Federation Standard translations of the primary tastes 
("pungent, sour,
   salty") are a little deceptive. From the Klingon point of view, it is 
not accurate
   to say that a particular food is sour; rather, it tastes and smells 
sour. That is,
   sourness is not an intrinsic quality of the food; it is a perception, 
the effect
   the food has upon the senses of smell and taste, the Klingon sense of 
smell being
   particularly highly developed. Translations such as "sour-inducing" 
({Soj wIb},
   "sour-inducing food"; {na' Soj}, "The food induces saltiness") would 
perhaps be
   closer to the feeling of the Klingon, but they are a bit clumsy. [KGT 
85-86]

   Klingon food also frequently tastes {wIb} ("sour, bitter") or {na'} ("salty,
   brackish"). The closest equivalent to sweet is probably {na'ran rur} 
("resembles
   a *naran*," a fruit whose juice is sometimes added to sauces as a 
contrast to
   the other flavors) ... 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]

Before KGT, many people made do with the non-official *{wIbHa'} for "be 
sweet" or used the noun {HaQchor} "saccharin".



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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