[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: tor

Steven Boozer sboozer at uchicago.edu
Mon Apr 8 06:20:12 PDT 2019


Klingon Word of the Day for Sunday, April 07, 2019

Klingon word: tor
Part of speech: verb
Definition: kneel
_______________________________________________

QamvIS Hegh qaq law' torvIS yIn qaq puS 
Better to die on our feet than live on our knees. ST6
 ("Dying while standing is preferable to living while kneeling"). 

TKW 95:  The grammatical construction is a bit aberrant; one would expect {QamtaHvIS} and {tortaHvIS}.  In proverbs, grammatical shortcuts are not uncommon.

SEE:
tor  		pitch (i.e. aircraft) (v) [HQ 11.2]

(HQ 11.2):  And when the nose of the plane moves up or down, the plane is said to {tor} "pitch".  (The word {tor} also means "kneel", which Maltz thought was apt, since if a four-legged animal is able to kneel with either its hind legs or its front legs, it is able to pitch or tilt up or down.) …  The attitude of an aircraft is often talked about in terms of angles. The word for angle is {tajvaj}.  Klingon {taH} means "be at a negative angle".

SEE ALSO:
qIv 		knee (n)

tom  		be tilted, tilt (v)
joD 		stoop (v)
‘ung 		squat (down) (v)
SIH 		bend (v)
Qam 		stand (v)
Hu' 		get up (v)
van 		salute, bow before (v)

TREK TRIVIA:
  "Or perhaps the thought of bending knee and tending sheep appeals to you?" (Kirk, TOS "Who Mourns for Adonais?")

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons





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