[tlhIngan Hol] lawn mower

[SuStel]

On 7/26/2016 1:35 PM, Elizabeth Lawrence wrote:
> No, I would not speak of mowing someone's hair, but I would certainly 
> speak of trimming the lawn.  <<chIp>> is glossed as "cut, trim (hair)".

But the English word /trim/ doesn't mean "cut hair." It means "make 
shorter by cutting." The Klingon word *chIp,* however, means "make 
/hair/ shorter by cutting." English /trim/ can be applied to things 
other than hair, and is not even especially associated with hair.


> When hair is cut or trimmed, it is shortened for aesthetic effect.  I 
> don't know that Klingons have the notion of mowing lawns at all, and 
> "Giving the grass a haircut" is certainly much more descriptive of 
> what is happening than "Cutting the grass" would be to people who have 
> no tradition of mown lawns.

Maltz gave us the phrase *magh yotlh,* so he at least understands the 
concept and could declare a "correct" phrase for it.

Whether "giving the grass a haircut" is a better description of the act 
than "cutting the grass" is subjective, and I'm not sure I agree that 
it's more descriptive. One relies on metaphor; the other is 
straightforward. And there are other reasons to mow grass than just for 
aesthetics: sports fields need to be mown if they are grassy; tall grass 
can support dangerous fauna, obstruct vision, and hinder the operation 
of vehicles; some animals eat hay. Since *magh* is a Klingon plant 
/like/ grass, they must deal with it from time to time, either 
obliterating it or mowing it. Or maybe even using it decoratively.


> I will continue with magh chIpwI' as the much more evocative

...and incorrect...

> phrase.

I dislike playing the "a Klingon would" game, where we project our ideas 
of what a Klingon would do/say/believe/prefer and use that straw man as 
an argument for Klingon grammar. Barring information from Okrand, using 
*chIp* as /mow/ is, at best, poetic license. The standard verb is 
*pe'*/cut./ If you like, use *runmoH* /shorten/ along with it to get 
your point across.


-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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