tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 12 07:56:36 2007
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Re: Klingon WOTD: meq (verb)
> > This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Monday, February 5, 2007.
> >
> > Klingon word: meq
> > Part of Speech: verb
> > Definition: reason
> > Homonyms: meq (noun) - reason, motive
naHQun:
>So {meq} has been bugging me for a while, I have more definitons than
>I know what to do with:
>
> meq v. n. reason TKD
> meq n. reason, (logical thinking) KGT p154
> meq n. motive, KGT
>
>So to me, "reason" and "motive" mean why something was done.
>Then we have "logical thinking", which in English is also "to reason",
>but a totally different word than motive.
>
>Did Okrand start with one meaning and then move to the other by
>looking up the English in TKD? Or am I missing something?
Here's what I have on {meq} in what I hope is chronological order:
{meq} "reason" (v. & n.) TKD
{meqba'} *mek'ba* (type of legal proceeding: that portion of a Klingon
trial or appeal in which evidence is heard [cf. TNG "Sins of the Father"])
Klingons may not care whether a falsehood is intentional, but only whether
the information is reliable. As Ambassador Kell admonished Worf, "Motives?
Who cares for motives? Humans, perhaps." (TNG "The Mind's Eye")
This shows up as a proverb: {ram meqmey} "Motives are insignificant."
(TKW 143)
"A close standard equivalent is {meq} ('reason')--that is, 'logical
thinking'."
(KGT 154)
As you can see, "motive" first appeared in TKW - as a translation of a
Klingon phrase heard in TNG - and was later published, along with most of
the post-TKD vocabulary (including {meqba'} IIRC), in the KGT
glossary. Okrand also added the comment "logical thinking" in the
discussion in the KGT text on the slang word {mo'} "motive, motivation,
grounds, reason, rationale (KGT p. 154).
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons