tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jan 24 10:09:46 2007
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Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for January 24, 2007
pm5 wrote:
>'alIS: {tIH rur ghIchlIj tIq 'e' Duja''a' vay'?}
>Alice: "Has anyone ever told you that your snout is like
> the handle of a gavel?"
>
>nov: {Dochvetlh nuq?}
>alien: "A what?"
>
>'alIS: {bo'DIjDaq SoHtaHvIS pejatlhQo'! *bam* *bam* *bam*}
>Alice: "Order in the court! *bam* *bam* *bam*"
>
>There's no word for gavel. I gathered on [Memory Alpha][2] that a
>Klingon gavel is spear-shaped, so I translated it to {tIH} "shaft".
>
> [2]:http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Judgment
Not spear-shaped, but sphere-shaped. Read the Memory Alpha page again:
This episode features several, obviously intentional, parallels
to "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country": the captain of the
Enterprise being tried in a Klingon court for crimes against the
Empire, the appearance of the courtroom, the judge's talon-like
glove and SPHERE-SHAPED GAVEL ...
In ST5 the judge's gavel was a sort of metal sphere/ball {moQ} held in a
heavy talon-like glove {pogh} which sparked dramatically when the
judge/magistrate {loHwI'} (lit. "administrator") pounded it. I'm not sure
whether it was attached to the glove, but IIRC the judge only wore one
glove with his hooded cloak of office. But since it's a sphere, it doesn't
look like the alien's snout -- but Alice of course wouldn't know what
Klingon gavels look like.
The simplest fix is to call it a Terran {tera'ngan} or Federation {DIvI'}
gavel or a judge's gavel or, better still, just a gavel. For that, use
{mupwI'} "hammer", derived from the verb {mup} "impact, strike". Since
this says nothing about its shape, {mupwI'} may very well be the word for a
judge's gavel - especially since hammers have symbolic meaning:
the hammer is a symbol of power to Klingons (TKW 120)
for a Klingon, a hammer is a symbol of power. The phrase
{HoSghaj; mupwI' rur} ("powerful as a hammer") is based on
this notion." (KGT 129)]
Not surprisingly, there's even a proverb/saying about them:
mupwI' yI'uchtaH
Keep holding the hammer! TKW
"... this exhortation is really saying to maintain power once
it is achieved." {TKW 120)
So, all together:
loHwI' mupwI' tIH rur ghIchlIj
your nose is like the handle of a gavel ("magistrate's hammer")
I think {ghIch} "nose" is fine by itself. Animals have snouts, people have
noses. {ghIch tIq} "long nose" doesn't really render the implied
insult/insensitivity.
bo'DIjDaq petamchoH! *moq* *moq* *moq*
Order (Silence) in the court! *bam* *bam* *bam*
Personally, I like {tamchoH} "become quiet/silent" over {jatlhQo'} "don't
talk". It's more direct and more Klingon. YMMV.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons