[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: qaw

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon word: qaw
Part of speech: noun
Definition: memory (the ability)
Source: Email from Lieven 2018-02-06
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(Lieven < MO, 2/05/2018):  We've got {qawHaq} "memory banks". Maltz didn't know what {Haq} in this word was. (He said it has nothing to do with surgery - that's just a coincidence.) But {qaw}, he said, is a perfectly fine noun meaning memory in the sense of the ability to remember or the power of recall. It does not refer to specific memories or recollections. That's a different word: {wov'on}. It's more common to hear {wov'on qaw} "he/she remembers a memory" than {wov'on ghaj} "he/she has a memory", though the colloquial (English) translation of the former would be "he/she has a memory". Someone who remembers a lot of stuff or who can easily remember things (like dates or lines of a play) may be said to have a {qaw pov} "excellent memory".
 
CULTURAL NOTES:
(KGT 101f.):  [in a restaurant] When taking a table's order, the {jabwI'} neither writes anything down nor enters data into a computer. It is considered the duty of the {jabwI'} to remember ({qaw}) the choices and to bring the correct food, and servers tend to be quite skilled at this. On the rare occasion when the {jabwI'} has remembered incorrectly ({qawHa'}), the patron may reject ({lajQo'}) the dish. If the patron rejects a dish that the server believes has been properly remembered, however, the misunderstanding could develop into minor combat.

SEE ALSO:
qaw  		remember (v)
qawHa'  	remember incorrectly (v)
qawmoH  	remind (v)
ghov 		recognize (v)
lIj 		forget (v)
	

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons