[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: pel'aQ

Steven Boozer sboozer at uchicago.edu
Thu May 10 09:16:00 PDT 2018


Klingon word: pel'aQ
Part of speech: noun
Definition: coffin
Source: qep'a' 24  [2017]
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AFAIK never used in a sentence.

Since {pel'aQ} also means the  shell (of an egg), this allows for some macabre punning with the idiom {pel'aQDaj ghorpa'} "before it breaks its shell" (meaning "before it's too late" or "while there's still time") .  E.g.

  pel'aQDaj ghorpa' qama' yIHoH 
  Before it breaks its shell, kill the prisoner.
  (i.e. "Kill the prisoner now, while you've got a chance") KGT

TREK TRIVIA:
24th century Klingon warriors consider the corpse to be only an "empty shell" once the spirit has departed the body, to be disposed of accordingly. (TNG "Heart of Glory")

Janeway referred to "the shroud of Kahless". (VOY "One Small Step")

"I just re-watched episode 2 of Discovery, and indeed, T'kuvma explained why they recovered their dead warriors: He explains that when a warrior dies while sleeping, he is just flesh and bones, but a warrior who dies in battle deserves his final honorable treatment." (Lieven, 1/02/2018)

SEE ALSO:
nev'aQ 		sarcophagus [simple] (n)
nebeylI' 	sarcophagus [fancy] (n)

Heghpu'wI' 	dead (person) (n) 
'oynot  		flesh (n)
Hom  		bone (n)
lom 		corpse (n)

yInbogh lom 	zombie (n)
jItuj'ep 		mummy (n)
'Iw remwI' 	vampire (n)


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons





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