tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 23 09:04:45 2007
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Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for January 23, 2007
pm5 wrote:
>nov: {Sov 'Itlhqu' ghajbogh nov'e' jIH.
>alien: "I am an alien with highly advanced intelligence.
maj.
> {weyvamvaD wIghwIj peghHa'moH SaghoS.}
> "I have come to share my genius with this company."
Nice use of {wey} "ship's full complement of personnel, crew plus
officers". {malja'} "business" is an option, if it can refer to an
individual business and not business in general (the standard disclaimer).
In addition to {wIgh} "genius", also consider {leSSov} "foresight" and
{Sov} "knowledge, wisdom [cf. the "Frasier" bar mitzvah speech]".
The real problem is "share X with Y". Oddly enough there's no known word
for "share". (Must not be a Klingon character trait <g>!) I'm not sure I
understand your choice of {peghHa'moH} "cause to not keep a
secret". Perhaps a simple {nob} "give" is best. You also need a link
between the verbs {SaghoS} and {peghHa'moH}; {-meH} "(in order) to" works
best. There's a similar line from the Hallmark commercial using the
"prefix trick":
vaj malopmeH tlhIHvaD nob SaSuqpu'
So to celebrate, I've gotten you all a gift. (Hallmark)
So all together:
wIghwIj SanobmeH naDev jIghoSpu'.
I have come here to give all-of-you my genius.
SovwIj SanobmeH jIpawpu'.
I have come (arrived) to give all-of-you my wisdom.
>a'Soq: {'e' vIHech je. 'ach naDev 'e' lupar.}
>Asok: "Me too. But they don't like that sort of thing here."
Two {'e'}s in a row feels a little funny (I don't know why). How about
substituting a simple {jIH je} for the first?
>nov: {<quagmire> 'oH Daqvam 'e'.}
>alien: "It's a quagmire."
>
>I just don't know how to translate "quagmire"... {puH lo'laHbe'}
>"worthless land"?
Yes, but it's being used metaphorically here:
* A quagmire (from "quake" + "mire") is, literally, shaky, miry ground;
as a political term used to describe a foreign military campaign in which
there is either no foreseeable possibility of victory or the objectives are
unclearly defined, and at the same time no clear exit strategy has been
formulated in the absence of victory. The military campaign is likened to a
kind of swamp or marsh in which the warring nation is unable to remove
itself.
*
<http://www.google.com//url?sa=X&start=2&oi=define&q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quagmire&usg=__t1vshhpUqAF5qPHGGFLPN3sUDDA=>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quagmire
I'm sure KLingons have a different idiom. You could say *{Seng'a' 'oH},
from the noun {Seng} "trouble". Or you could just use the verb {qay'} "be
a problem, be a hassle" or {Seng} "cause trouble" instead (which is often
more Klingon): {qay'qu'}.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons