tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 08 12:29:31 2013

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Re: [Tlhingan-hol] jolly?

Felix Malmenbeck ([email protected])



Does the "jolly" in "jolly good fellow" actually mean "happy"? I've always interpreted it as a jovial intensifier, and looking at some translations into Earth languages, it seems others have simply interpreted "jolly good fellow" as "a really good guy" or "a true friend" ("bravo ragazzo", "muchacho excelente", "buen compañero", etc.).
So, I might recommend something like {jupna' ghaH[bej]mo' <name>'e'}. Maybe turn "And so say all of us" into {DaHjaj wIquvqu'moH} or something.

Anyhow, it appears Troi and company actually translated that song into some other dialect than the tlhIngan ta' Hol.
Interestingly enough, the "Klingon" lyrics to this song can be found on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_He%27s_a_Jolly_Good_Fellow#Klingon_version

> I don't have any record of Okrand opining on the question, nor of the form
> *{Quchqu'} in my notes, though it would seem to fit.

I suspect that while the literal meaning of "jolly" carries over quite well, there might not be a term which simultaneously has similarly jovial connotations. The words {maqoch} and {chaj}, and the expression {wIj jup}, may have similar connotations, but have a different literal meaning.

> Anything in the paq'batlh, guys?

Nope; no uses of the words "happy" or "jolly", and the only uses of {Quch} refer to foreheads.
________________________________________
From: Steven Boozer [[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 21:04
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Tlhingan-hol] jolly?

De'vID:
> I have a recollection of reading somewhere that MO was asked how to
> translate "jolly good [fellow]", and his replied contained {Quchqu'}
> and a remark that Troi (in the STTNG episode "Parallels") was wrong to
> say that Klingon doesn't have a word for "jolly". Was it in an issue
> of HolQeD? On a mailing list?  Or am I imaging things?

In TNG "Parallels" Troi commented on the difficulties of translating the song "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" into Klingon that, "There doesn't seem to be a Klingon word for 'jolly'."

I don't have any record of Okrand opining on the question, nor of the form *{Quchqu'} in my notes, though it would seem to fit.

FYI {Quch} "be happy" in canon:

  jIQuch
  I am happy. KLS

  loD Quch jIHbe'
  I am not a merry man. TKW

  De'vetlh vIQoy, vaj jIQuch
  I am happy to hear that information. KGT

AFAIK there are no examples of {QuchHa'} "be unhappy" in canon.

Anything in the paq'batlh, guys?


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons



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