tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Mar 19 08:26:27 2013
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Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: Haq
> Klingon Word of the Day for Tuesday, March 19, 2013
>
> Klingon word: Haq
> Part of speech: verb
> Definition: perform surgery (on)
jagh HIvrup SuvwI' Haqpa' DIvI' qeSwI'
The warrior was prepared to attack the enemy until the Federation advisor performed surgery. KGT
Note the homophonous noun {Haq} "surgery" and the slang verb {Haq} "intervene in (a situation)":
KGT 151: The word {Haq} actually means "perform surgery on (someone)". Even though Klingon doctors generally have thriving practices and a doctor is always part of a ship's crew, not only is being under a doctor's care considered a sign of weakness, but it is also regarded as a relinquishing of self-control. Klingons tend to avoid visiting doctors except under the most serious of circumstances and, as a result, doctors spend a great deal of their time tending to critically wounded patients and relatively little time performing routine examinations or practicing preventive medicine. The general term for doctor or physician is {Qel}, but a surgeon, a doctor who actually manipulates the internal organs or bones of the patient and thereby is the most invasive, is a {HaqwI'}, "one who performs surgery". The slang term {Haq} developed from the association of surgery with invasion of the person, hence intervene. Just as {Haq} in the nonslang sense of perform surgery has negative connotation, the slang term {Haq} (intervene) is likewise disparaging, implying that the intervention was unnecessary and/or that the party doing the intervening somehow handled the situation badly. Thus, if one were to say {jagh HIvrup SuvwI' Haqpa' DIvI' qeSwI'} ("The warrior was prepared to attack the enemy until the Federation advisor intervened" ...), the implication is that the advice was unnecessary, counterproductive, or both. The common nonslang term for intervene is {mun}.
Related words:
Haq surgery (n)
Haqtaj scalpel (n)
HaqwI' surgeon (n)
"They say that the doctor who operates on himself has a *p'tak* for a patient." (B'Elanna, VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy")
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
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