[tlhIngan Hol] When you're stuck at a word

[mayqel qunenoS]

ghunchu'wI':
> Is this a Greek idiom?

I don't know if we say it only in greece (although I don't thing many
people actually say it here) ; the idiom/phrase goes something like
"to be a thorn at someone's side", meaning "to be a constant
annoyance".

ghunchu'wI':
> The phrase "at Light's
> side" implies that the thorn and Light are cooperating, though I'd
> usually expect a thorn to be a hindrance.

I hadn't thought that someone could translate the "at light's side",
as "being an ally at the side of light" ; but now that you mentioned
it, I understand that someone unfamiliar with the matter could indeed
understand this to be this way.

ghunchu'wI':
> Is the use of the general plural {-mey} instead of the body-part
> plural {-Du'} an error, or is it intentional?

I wish I could say it was intentional, but unfortunately it was an error.

ghunchu'wI':
> Is the {-vaD} supposed
> to be marking the target of the spike (I'd expect {-Daq}

I thought of using {-Daq}, but I didn't, since I remembered that
{-Daq} is to be used only for physical locations. On the other hand
"the ribs" are a physical location but since they are used
metaphorically, I decided eventually to go with {-vaD}.

Jeremy Silver:
> The idiom carries over to English:-
> thorn in someone's side / thorn in someone's flesh:
> a constant bother or annoyance to someone

yes indeed.

Jeremy Silver:
> The Light would I guess refers to Good/the Good side, and conversely Dark
> would refer to an Evil side of a battle/contest.

Your reasoning is sound, however -personally- I refrain from
associating "dark" with "evil", because the whole "good or evil"
matter is a point of view.

Jeremy Silver:
> Is {QaQ} the opposite of {mIgh}, or would you build something like mIghHa'?

This is a good question, but unfortunately I don't know the answer..

mIv Hurgh qunnoq

On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 12:08 AM, Jeremy Silver
<j.silver at mupwi.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> On Monday 27 Jun 2016 16:47:23 Alan Anderson wrote:
>>
>> Is this a Greek idiom? I don't recognize it, and I don't know what
>> it's supposed to mean. Light is capitalized, so I infer that it
>> represents the personification of something, but there isn't enough
>> context for me to identify that something. The phrase "at Light's
>> side" implies that the thorn and Light are cooperating, though I'd
>> usually expect a thorn to be a hindrance.
>>
>> Your strategy is sound: express the meaning; don't just translate
>> individual words. My problem is that I'm not able to get a clear
>> meaning out of what you've written.
>
> The idiom carries over to English:-
> thorn in someone's side / thorn in someone's flesh:
> a constant bother or annoyance to someone
>
> So I'm guessing a translation would involve some variation on {nuQtaH}.
>
> The Light would I guess refers to Good/the Good side, and conversely Dark
> would refer to an Evil side of a battle/contest.
>
> Is {QaQ} the opposite of {mIgh}, or would you build something like mIghHa'?
>
> -- mupwI'
>
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