[tlhIngan Hol] voD and mu'qaD veS

[Felix Malmenbeck]

> This use of the English words screw and drill are idiomatic.


Indeed. It's rather telling that the expression does not survive translation into Swedish, which is basically just English with a few extra vowels.


"Hey, Sven! Your mother is skruvad!"
"Yeah, I guess she does have a pretty weird sense of humor."
"Huh? No, I mean ... she is borrad!"

"What, like ... at the dentist's?"


That doesn't mean Klingon can't have the same dual meanings as English, but the fact that it doesn't exist in a language so closely related to English should serve to warn us from assuming it exists in a language that evolved on another planet.


I believe English-speakers also sometimes use the word "stab" to describe a sex act, while in Klingon {DuQ} has the rather different (albeit not mutually exclusive) idiomatic meaning of "touch/move (emotionally)". (And in Swedish, the closest translation (hugga) is used idiomatically to mean "grab/grip (a person or thing)".)


//loghaD


P.S. On a side note, while the existence of {Hab SoSlI' Quch.} suggests that "yo momma"-style insults are a thing in Klingon, I kind of feel like we have enough of those here on Earth. I prefer targs and tribbles.


________________________________
From: tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol-bounces at lists.kli.org> on behalf of SuStel <sustel at trimboli.name>
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2018 18:58
To: tlhingan-hol at lists.kli.org
Subject: Re: [tlhIngan Hol] voD and mu'qaD veS

On 10/15/2018 12:46 PM, Lieven L. Litaer wrote:
Am 15.10.2018 um 18:35 schrieb mayqel qunenoS:

If someone said to a klingon..

SoSlI' Sa'Hut luvoD wa'maH verengan mang.
or
SoSli' ngaghmeH QemjIq voD wa' verengan mangghom.

Would he get the meaning ?

I enjoy your dirty thoughts :-)

Anyway, when I hear "drill" I don't think "screw". A drill MAKES a hole, it does not put anything in it.

This use of the English words screw and drill are idiomatic. Screwing involves a twisting motion and drilling involves making a hole, as Lieven says, neither of which particularly resemble the act you're considering.

A Klingon would no doubt become angry, but not because you suggested anything particularly sexual.

--
SuStel
http://trimboli.name
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