[tlhIngan Hol] ordering and scope of adverbials relative to timestamps

[SuStel]

On 2/8/2019 11:23 PM, Will Martin wrote:
> I have been misunderstood.
>
> I do not mean to imply that you have to say a number which is exactly accurate. I mean that you need to say a number.
>
> You need to state a number that gives one a sense of scope and scale of what you are measuring. We have lots of examples among the canon of just this sort of thing.

So you're saying we need to be approximate, not accurate?


> Do we really mean exactly 1,000 throats can be cut in one night by a running man? Of course not. But we are not going to say, “Nearly 1,000 throats...” or “About 1,000 throats,” or “A little over 1,000 throats.” We are going to say, “1,000 throats”.

There are no actual throats to count; the statement is a proverb. There 
is no basis to suppose that 1,001 or 999 actual throats have been cut, 
because no throats have been cut. You can make up any number that sounds 
good and plausible. This is not support of your position.


> We don’t care if the measurement we give isn’t exactly accurate. We do care that we are not vague about what that number might be. We are decisive. We grab a number that is close enough and we use it. We don’t use vague, wittering, indecisive terms to almost describe the time period.

Sorry, where exactly does this rule come from?


> And I don’t care what Worf says when he is speaking English. This is irrelevant.

How about what Okrand says when he is speaking Klingon?

*tera' vatlh DIS poH cha'maH wej HochHom lo'lu'taH.
*/[They] remained in use for most of the 23rd century. /(SkyBox S15)
//

Why did he add *HochHom?* He could just have said *tera' vatlh DIS poH 
cha'maH wej lulo'taH* /They used them in the 23rd century/ and it would 
have been perfectly true! How vague, wittering, and indecisive of him! 
What exactly is *HochHom* /for,/ if you can't describe /most of/ something?

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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