tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 08 09:06:22 2004

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Re: taH (was Re: mu' lo' QaQ 'oSbogh mu'tlheghmey)

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

Voragh:
> >And that's the thing:  We just don't know how {taH} works.  There are no
> >known examples of the word in canon; it's merely an entry in the TKD
> >glossary.  Okrand has been asked about it, but he's never given an
> >answer.  Many of us have puzzled over it, but there's no consensus.  For
> >example, someone (not Okrand) at qep'a' loSDIch suggested it means "be
> >tilted," but there's no indication of whether Okrand approved, or was even
> >present, at the time.
> >   [....]
> >Our sole clue about {taH} comes from a discussion by Okrand of piloting
> >vocabulary in HolQeD 11.2:
> >
> >   The attitude of a plane is its orientation relative to something,
> >   such as the {ghangwI'} "horizon." ... The attitude of an aircraft
> >   is often talked about in terms of angles. The word for "angle" is
> >   {tajvaj}. Klingon {taH} means "be at a negative angle."
> >
> >Thus, it appears that {taH} has to do with the attitude of an
> >aircraft.  Perhaps "be in a dive" relative to the ground, some other
> >arbitrary spatial reference, or even another aircraft or ship?

qurgh:
>At SerentiyCon a couple of years back I got to spend the day with Marc. During
>his talk he had a Q and A session. No one was asking questions so I raised my
>hand and asked, with a smile, "How can I be at a negative angle?". He replied,
>after a chuckle and a quick gloss of {taH} that it was refering to a ship, in
>space, that has rotated it's nose downwards. It was moving in a negative 
>angle.
>He went on to say that if it moved -90 degrees it would be pointing straight
>down. I believe I asked him why the word existed (or he volunteered it) and it
>had something to do with a line that was going to be spoken, but was dropped
>later on. He didn't give the sentance though :(

Aha!  One more mystery solved.

I knew that if people asked him enough times, he would eventually 
answer.  Since it's such an odd phrase to translate, I figured it had to be 
for a deleted line in ST3, or one that was eventually filmed in 
English.  I've toyed with the idea of searching for an online version of 
the complete ST3 script and searching it for "negative" and "angle", but 
never had the time.

Now, why couldn't he have told us this before?  I guess he was just playing 
with us.  <g>



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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