tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 17 13:44:17 2009
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RE: "matay'DI' jIHegh vIneH!"
Mark J. Reed:
>>On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 [Voragh] wrote:
>> consider the very Klingon sentiment {matay'DI' jIHegh vIneH}
>> ("I want to die when we're together").
>
>How is one to distinguish that from the somewhat less complimentary
>"When we're together, I want to die."? :)
"Well, if I have to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand." ;)
I realized how some might take that sentiment as less than complimentary right after I sent the post. <sigh> But I suppose if said during a romantic re-enactment of the Defense of Qam-Chee, there would be no misunderstanding at all... at least for Klingons:
KGT 13: Following the successful defense of the Great Hall at Qam-Chee, Kahless and Lukara engage in a brief conversation that marks the start of their epic romance. Students have been memorizing these lines and repeating them for so long, they have become part of the knowledge shared by all Klingons. One need only say the first line - "{mova' 'aqI' ruStaq}," a {no' Hol} way to say "today was a good day to die" - and everyone will know what is to follow. Interestingly, in the case of this particular conversation, the lines have been incorporated into a mating ritual that persists to this day, with the man and the woman taking the roles and repeating the {no' Hol} lines of Kahless and Lukara, respectively, as the prelude to a romantic encounter. [cf. DS9 "Looking for Par'Mach in All the Wrong Places"]
--
Voragh
Canon Master of the Klingons