tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jun 16 07:22:56 2004

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Re: Klingon WOTD: Qob (v)

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

>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Wednesday, June 16, 2004.
>
>Klingon word:   Qob
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition:     be dangerous

Never used in canon, except for the brief example below.

Note the homophonous noun {Qob} "danger".

>Additional Notes: See also {Qom}.

{Qom} "be hazardous, be perilous, be treacherous" (slang):

   The word {Qom} literally means "experience a tremor" or, using an old
   Terran phrase, "experience an earthquake". The word is used in its
   slang sense of "perilous, treacherous" when applied to a mission or
   voyage. For example, {Qom Qu'} (literally, "The mission experiences a
   tremor") means "The mission is perilous". Likewise, {Qom He} (literally,
   "The route experiences a tremor") generally means "The route is trea-
   cherous", implying that the journey is treacherous. The word can also be
   applied to the state of a structure or a vessel following a disastrous
   encounter, though in this case the verb usually takes the perfective
   suffix {-pu'}, indicating that the action has been completed. Thus,
   {Qompu' Duj} (literally, "The ship has experienced a tremor") may be
   used to mean "The ship is hazardous, has been left in a hazardous condi-
   tion". The fact that in the Krotmag dialect (see the chapter on "The
   Fiction of Klingon Conformity", under "Pronunciation," pages 18-23) the
   word {Qob} ("be dangerous") would be pronounced {Qom} is probably not
   unrelated to the origin of the idiomatic usage of {Qom}, though the basic
   meaning of {Qom} itself certainly carries with it the notion of potential
   danger. Note that despite its slang meaning of "be hazardous, treacherous",
   the way the verb is used grammatically is based on its standard, literal
   sense. That is, while it is acceptable to say {He Qob} ("dangerous route"),
   using Qob ("be dangerous") adjectivally, it is ungrammatical to say {He
   Qom} for ("perilous route"). The verb {Qom} still means "experience a
   tremor" and must be used in a grammatical structure appropriate to that
   meaning.  (KGT 162-63)

   Trafficking with the Romulans shows that B'Etor's...mission will be {Qom}.
   (KGT 162 ill.)



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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