[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: yItlhHa'

[Daniel Dadap]

> On Mar 26, 2019, at 09:24, Steven Boozer <sboozer at uchicago.edu> wrote:
> 
> (KGT 201):  A bang pong is formed by attaching {-oy}, the suffix indicating endearment, to an everyday noun. Most of the resulting terms make very little sense to anyone not in the particular relationship, and none translates well. Some pet terms are based on words for kinds of food, such as {chatlhoy} and {'awje'oy}. Perhaps these words could be rendered in Federation Standard as "soupy" and "poppy" (from soda pop), though neither translation conveys the intimacy and intensity of the Klingon. Other terms consist of words for weapons plus {-oy}:  for example: {yanoy, HIchoy, tajoy, jorwI'oy}.  A third type involves body parts, Klingon or otherwise, as in {'uSoy, 'aDoy, pIpoy, pachoy}.  Another term based on a body part, {Ho'oy}, is one of the few that makes sense to a non-Klingon if it is remembered that {Ho'} is a slang term for hero, idol.

Thanks. I think my email client needs an “It looks like you’re asking a question on the KLI mailing list. Did you look in KGT?” reminder, like the kind that nags you when you say “attached” but don’t include a file attachment.

I must have read that at some point and had it fall through the sieve which is my memory, since I seemed to have some notion in my head that food items and weapons would be suitable material for names of endearment.