tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Mar 13 08:02:33 2007
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Re: Klingon WOTD: ghangwI' (noun)
> > This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Tuesday, March 13, 2007.
> >
> > Klingon word: ghangwI'
> > Part of Speech: noun
> > Definition: horizon
> > Source: HQ (11:2 p8)
lay'tel SIvten:
>Is this related to {ghang}?
>
>NWL20030704; HQ v12n2p8; v; end prematurely (an event, voyage, battle, play,
>opera, story, song, etc.) [The subject of this verb is the person causing an
>event to prematurely end. The direct object is the event that is ended.]
I don't think so. {ghangwI'} (HQ 11.2) was revealed prior to {ghang} (HQ
12.2). It's generally accepted that {ghang} derives from the 1970's US
television series "The Gong Show", many of whose dreadful amateur acts were
ended prematurely when one of the celebrity judges struck a huge gong. I
can't think of any relationship between the two, even as a pun. The only
thing I could think of was something to do with "the hero riding off into
the sunset" - which is how many westerns traditionally end, though not
prematurely.
That being said however, I have no idea why {ghangwI'} is a nomen agentis
from an apparently unknown verb *{ghang}.
Maltz said he knew of no noun meaning "attitude" [...] The attitude of
a plane is its orientation relative to something, such as the {ghangwI'}
"horizon". The attitude of an aircraft is often talked about in terms of
angles. The word for "angle" is {tajvaj}. Klingon {taH} means "be at a
negative angle".
though there is a verb {lol} "be in an attitude (i.e. aircraft)".
Anybody get the joke behind {ghangwI'}?
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons