tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Mar 03 13:32:52 2004

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Re: MSN jabbI'ID labwI' lo'wI'pu'

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

QeS lagh:
> ><<wa'Hu' nIvnavwIjDaq mIl'oD vIbachpu'.

Quvar:
>mujang Quvar:
> >You fired a bear into your pajamas?  ;-)
> >
> >The object of {bach} is the projectile:
> >    {pe'vIl mu'qaDmey tIbach}
> >    "curse well" (lit. "shoot cureses forcefully") (TKW)

More detail:

   The verb used for "shoot" when referring to disruptors is {bach}.
   Technically speaking, one shoots the energy beam from the disruptor.
   The general word for any energy beam ("ray") is {tIH}, so a disrup-
   tor's beam is {nISwI' tIH}. Thus, the correct formation is {nISwI'
   tIH bach} ("shoot the disruptor beam"). As a practical matter,
   however, the {tIH} is often left out, and {nISwI' bach} is the
   common way to say "shoot a disruptor". Similarly, {pu' bach} is
   shoot a phaser." (KGT 56)

The target - what you're shooting at - is marked by {-Daq}:

   logh veQDaq bachchugh, yoH 'e' toblaHbe' SuvwI'.
   Shooting space garbage is no test of a warrior's mettle. (ST5 notes)

> >chay' nIvnavwIj tuQ mIl'oD? vISovbe'.>> - Groucho Marx
> >{jISovbe'} avoids any problems
> >[briefly: vI- only works using 'e', but that doesn't work with chay'

Besides, you need {qatlh} "why?", not {chay'} "how?".

>That's what the joke is supposed to be about. The ambiguity is *meant* to be
>there; it's part of the joke.

The problem with this classic joke is that you can't translate it 
ambiguously.

   Yesterday I shot a bear wearing my pajamas.
   (Why he was wearing my pajamas, I'll never know!)

Since Klingon verbs are declined, you have to be specific:

   wa'Hu' nIvnavwIj tuQtaHvIS mIl'oDDaq jIbach.
   Yesterday I shot a sabre bear while (it was) wearing my pajamas.

   wa'Hu' nIvnavwIj vItuQtaHvIS mIl'oDDaq jIbach.
   Yesterday I shot a sabre bear while (I was) wearing my pajamas.

Although the first version is certainly amusing, it lacks the double entendre.



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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