tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu May 09 07:22:34 2013

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

Steven Boozer ([email protected])



> Klingon Word of the Day for Thursday, May 09, 2013
> 
> Klingon word: mIQ
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition: forehead (regional)

KGT 28f.:  The standard word for this prominent part of Klingon anatomy is {Quch}, and this word is found with this meaning throughout the Empire. In addition, however, practically every dialect has its own alternate word for forehead. Indeed, {Quch} is simply the word for "forehead" in the First City. Among these other forms are: {boD, jargh, mIQ, 'aQlo', Huy'Dung, tuqvol, no''och}. While the first four of these words are simply regionalisms for "forehead", the last three can be analyzed, at least partially. {Huy'Dung} is probably from {Huy' Dung} ("above the eyebrow[s]"). The word {tuqvol} may contain the word {tuq} ("house [lineage]") because family resemblances can be seen in forehead ridges. The second element, {vol}, however, is otherwise unknown. Similarly, the first syllable of {no''och} may derive from {no'} ("ancestors"), again suggesting something about genealogy. The second syllable, {'och}, probably resembles {'och} ("tunnel") only accidentally; there is no reason to think that "ancestors' tunnel" is a way to say forehead.

To describe foreheads, use {vIl} "be ridgy" vs. {Hab} "be smooth".  A single forehead ridge is a {vIlHom}.  Other useful qualities include {beQ} "be flat", {ghegh} "be rough" and {tlher} "be lumpy".


Miscellaneous forehead lore:

KGT 157f.:  {paw'} "butt heads" ... describes a very common habit among Klingon warriors, particularly at festive occasions. Two Klingons stand close together, facing each other, and, with great joviality, slam their foreheads together... When the subject of {paw'} is persons, the most common interpretation of the verb is the slang one-that is, butt heads. Thus, if one were to say {paw' tera'nganpu'} ("The Terrans collide"), this would probably be taken to mean that the Terrans butt heads, as unlikely as the image might be ... There is no simple non-slang verb for "butt heads".

  Quch DaHutlh 
  You lack a forehead. KGT 

KGT 193f.:  The remark "You lack a forehead" would be considered extremely offensive to a Klingon, calling into question his or her very identity. Since there are any number of phrases involving money that could be taken the wrong way if {Huch} is pronounced {Quch}, many tourists follow the Klingon practice of using the term {DarSeqmey} (darseks)... to refer to money in general. Thus, "You lack money" would be {DarSeqmey DaHutlh} (literally, "You lack darseks"). 

'To the Romans, the shameless were "without forehead," at least figuratively. Effrontery derives from Latin *effrons*, a word that combines the prefix *ex-* (meaning "out" or "without") and *frons* (meaning "forehead" or "brow"). The Romans never used *effrons* literally to mean "without forehead," and theorists aren't in full agreement about the connection between the modern meaning of effrontery and the literal senses of its roots. Some explain that *frons* can also refer to the capacity for blushing, so a person without *frons* would be unblushing or shameless. Others theorize that since the Romans believed that the brow was the seat of a person's modesty, being without a brow meant being immodest, or again, shameless.' [Merriam Webster's Word of the Day, 6/11/2009; www.Merriam-Webster.com])


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons



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