[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: tuH

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon word: tuH
Part of speech: verb
Definition: be ashamed
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bItuHpa' bIHeghjaj 
Death before shame. 
("May you die before you are shamed.") PK

Dujeychugh jagh nIv yItuHQo' 
There is nothing shameful in falling before a superior enemy.
("If a superior enemy defeats you, don't be ashamed"). TKW

bItuHlaHbe'chugh bIquvlaHbe' 
If you cannot be shamed, you cannot be honored. TKW

wa' SuvwI' muHlu'DI', tuHchoH Hoch SuvwI'pu' 
The execution of but one warrior brings shame to all. TKW

tuHbe' tlhInganvam jay' 
Curse this Klingon, who has no shame! PB

(st.k 6/29/97) :  I tried to 'pursue' the meaning of {qIvon}. Maltz seemed a little reluctant to talk about it. (I'd say 'embarrassed,' but that word is entirely inappropriate to use in describing a Klingon.)

(KGT 155):  Often, the word is used with no overt subject, as if an exclamation: {natlh} ("It is objectionable," or "That is shameful"; literally, "It consumes").

(KGT 121):   ... the well-known story of Kahless the Unforgettable, the founder of the Klingon Empire, and his brother, Morath, who fought for the fabled 'twelve days and twelve nights' because Morath had broken his word and brought shame to the family.

Klingons feel that seriously injured warriors should be allowed to die or carry out the {Heghba'} rather than live in shame and humiliation. (cf. TNG "Ethics")
 
HISTORICAL PARALLELS:
(Word of the Day, 6/11/2009; www.Merriam-Webster.com):   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.

SEE ALSO:
tuHmoH  	shame [someone] (v) 
web 		be disgraced (v)
tIch 		insult (v)

Hem 		be proud (v)
naD 		commend (v)
quv 		be honored (v)

tuH  		shame (n)
le'yo' 		pride (n)
nur 		dignity (n)
quv 		[personal] honor (n)

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons