tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 09 11:09:30 2012

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: vIl

Noah Bogart ([email protected]) 

I live in a part of my city known as Clifton, and I and my friends have come up with a name for the various people we don&#39;t know but we end up seeing frequently in the same places: Cliftonites (or maybe Clifton-ites). {vIl} sounds like the same concept, where the person is a part of the landscape and while you may or may not interact with them, they&#39;re not relevant to your goings-on. Is that correct?<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 9:26 AM, Steven Boozer <span dir="ltr">&lt;<a href="mailto:[email protected]"; target="_blank">[email protected]</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div class="im">&gt; Klingon word:   vIl<br>
&gt; Part of speech: noun<br>
&gt; Definition:     speed bump<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>  &quot;The noun {vIl} is hard to define. Maltz had given a description of something which was immediately recognized as a speed bump by everyone present, but it was apparently intended not as an actual definition but as an example of something which is &#39;just there&#39;. There is obviously an etymological relationship with {vIlle&#39;}, which is currently the best clue we have to its true meaning. Consider someone who keeps showing up when you go places. This person doesn&#39;t necessarily have any particular importance to what you&#39;re doing, and it wouldn&#39;t matter to you at all if he or she weren&#39;t present, but the person is &#39;just there&#39;. That would be a {vIl}. It also can describe someone who hangs around, ready to help out, whether or not you need anyone to help you. Again, it wouldn&#39;t make any difference to you if the person weren&#39;t there. Here is a direct quote from Marc Okrand:  &quot;A {vIlle&#39;}, on the other hand, is definitely someone you want to have around--a follower, disciple, fan, admirer, minion.&quot; (&#39;Groupie&#39; and &#39;entourage&#39; were suggested by those present at the time, but Marc didn&#39;t think they fit.)&quot;  [ghunchu&#39;wI&#39;, 7/26/2009]<br>

<br>
  &quot;{vIl} strikes me more as referring to someone or something you keep noticing, rather than something or someone you would intentionally look for. When I asked Marc Okrand whether sidekick would be an appropriate term, he said no, and gave this example: &quot;It would apply to this woman I know who seems to show up (as an audience member or an usher or something) at every play I go to. I don&#39;t know why she&#39;s always there, but it&#39;s weird.&quot;  [ghunchu&#39;wI&#39;, 7/27/2009]<br>

<br>
Be careful not to confuse these:<br>
<br>
vIl     be ridgy (forehead) (v)<br>
vIlHom          ridge (forehead) (n.)<br>
vIlInHoD  a bird capable of mimicking speech (n)<br>
vIlle&#39;          follower, disciple, fan, admirer, minion (n.)<br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
Voragh<br>
Ca&#39;Non Master of the Klingons<br>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Tlhingan-hol mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:[email protected]";>[email protected]</a><br>
<a href="http://stodi.digitalkingdom.org/mailman/listinfo/tlhingan-hol"; target="_blank">http://stodi.digitalkingdom.org/mailman/listinfo/tlhingan-hol</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>

_______________________________________________
Tlhingan-hol mailing list
[email protected]
http://stodi.digitalkingdom.org/mailman/listinfo/tlhingan-hol

Back to archive top level