tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Mar 03 12:35:52 2004

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Re: law'/puS DIpvaD tam <'e'> je

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

SuStel:
> >>Doq'a' SuvwI'pu'?  ghobe', SuD!
> >>
> >>tlhIngan yoH SuD verengan yoH Doq.

De'vID:
>Well, ever since we got the meaning of <SuD> as "gamble, take a risk", I 
>always thought that the joke was based the double meaning of <SuD> as both 
>"green" and "gamble".  "Is a warrior red?"; "No, he is green/he takes risks."

This seems to be the consensus:  It's a pun on {SuD}, not necessarily 
evidence that {Doq} has overtones of timidity or cowardice for Klingons 
(like "yellow" in English).

>quljIb:
> >I had thought the {Doq}, being associated with {'Iw}, might be indicative
> >of strength and warriorhood.  But I bow to my superiors if I am wrong.

The only example relating redness to blood that I know of is the idiom {Doq 
bIQtIq bIQ} "The river water is red."

   The phrase can be traced back to an old drinking song that
   commemorates the slaying of the tyrant Molor by Kahless. On
   that day, according to the song, the River Skral ran red;
   that is, it was filled with the blood of Molor. (KGT 123)

Note, it's a line from a drinking song {HIvje' bom}.

De'vID:
>Also, isn't the fact that blood is <jeD> more important to Klingons than 
>that it is <Doq>?  We have a few Klingon sayings emphasizing the thickness 
>of blood, but none that refers to its redness that I can remember.  Also, 
>isn't there an example where <jeD> is used in place of <law'> in the 
><law'/puS> construction?

Not a few saying, only the simile {jeD; ghevI' rur} "thick as gagh sauce" 
and one saying WRT the thickness of blood:

   'IwwIj jeD law' 'IwlIj jeD puS
   My blood is thicker than yours.  PK

Okrand tells us that this means "I am much stronger than you."  {jeD} is 
used as the quality being compared, not as a replacement for 
{law'/puS}.  (HoS/puj, pIv/rop, Daj/qetlh, jen/'eS, ghegh/Hab and 
Qatlh/ngeD are so used [cf. KGT pp. 178ff.].)

WRT blood, heat seems to be more important:

   bIrchoH SuvwI' 'Iw
   The blood of the warrior grows cold. PK

   bIrchugh qIvon tuj 'Iw
   If the qIvon is cold, the blood is hot.

["It probably means something like `Even though some parts of the body may 
be cold, a Klingon's blood is hot'--that is, he is ready for battle." (TKW 
174)]

   tujpa' qul pub SuvwI' 'Iw
   A warrior's blood boils before the fire is hot.

["This proverb suggests that it is better to take the initiative than to 
simply react to situations. Blood, the controller, does not need an 
external influence in order to heat up; one need not draw strength from the 
outside." (TKW 32)

That being said, we are told that

   tay'taHbe' 'Iw bIQ je
   Blood and water don't mix. TKW

And in similes we hear that blood is strong:

   HoS; 'Iw rur
   strong as blood KGT

and water is weak:

   puj; bIQ rur
   weak as water KGT

AS to why water is weak:

   tlhutlhmeH HIq ngeb qaq law' bIQ qaq puS
   Drinking fake ale is better than drinking water. TKW

   The Klingons equate water with weakness. Anything is better than
   water; the less waterlike, the better. (KGT 35)

This seems to have to do with water's lack of potency as a beverage, not 
with the fact that it isn't thick.  I.e. alcohol {HIq} is strong {HoSghaj}; 
water is not.  Note the comment of the Klingon merchant to the Terran he 
takes to a bar in "Conversational Klingon":

   tera'nganvaD romuluS HIq jabQo'.  HoSghajqu'.
   They won't serve Romulan ale to Terrans. Too potent.



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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