[tlhIngan Hol] {SorHa'} ? Of course.. But with jay' what ?

Steven Boozer sboozer at uchicago.edu
Fri Aug 19 10:24:21 PDT 2016


mayqel qunenoS :
>> So, I guess the conclusion of this thread would be :
>>
>> "We can create metaphoric phrases, as long as each word within that
>> phrase is used on its literal klingon definition ; we can't use single
>> words metaphorically".

ghunchu'wI': 
> I don't even know how you would use a single word metaphorically.
> Metaphor requires a juxtaposition of words that invites an implicit
> comparison to something unstated. It usually suggests that two things are
> similar in some way, but unlike a simile it doesn't explicitly declare the
> resemblance.
> 
> Your proposed example of a "debt haircut" makes no sense to me. I can't
> see how lent or borrowed money is in any way like hair. Looking it up, I
> see that the term "haircut" has a specific meaning in the financial
> context of a loan, but if the term originated as a metaphor, the intended
> reference is unknown to me.

Okrand on {Hoch DuH yIqel} "consider every possibility!":

(KGT 108):  This is an idiom cloaked in the terminology of the military that has a wider application. It is used to mean "Consider every possibility" or "Consider every option," with the word {nuH} (weapon) standing metaphorically for possibility... 

Another example of a word used metaphorically - at least initially - may be {neb} "beak, bill (of a bird)" which may appear in {jorneb} "warhead (of a torpedo):

(Qes, 6/27/2007):  I find the idea of a torpedo or missile as a bird of prey diving at its target beak-first to be a rather apposite metaphor.

It may also be the origin of {neb} "nozzle (like on the end of a hose, rocket, etc.)" revealed at qep'a' 2016.

Whether these are examples of metaphor, idiom, or word play that caught on and became widely used (eg. a computer's "mouse" -> "mousepad") may be another matter entirely.  Or as we say in Klingon:

  DaH may' bom pIm Dabom 
  Now you sing a different battle song.
  (i.e. "Well, that's another matter altogether.") KGT


--
Voragh
tlhIngan ghantoH pIn'a'
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons


 



More information about the tlhIngan-Hol mailing list