[tlhIngan Hol] bID in noun-noun constructions

[mayqel qunen'oS]

I want to say "a year and a half", in the context of the following
sentence: "the time-eating aliens arrived, and they ate a year and a half".

My initial choice would be to write: {pawpu' poHmey Sopbogh novpu', 'ej
DIS, DIS bID je Soppu'}. And I would use {DIS, DIS bID je}, since we have
the Ca'Non words:

{paH bID} = "skirt" (half of a gown/dress)
{yopwaH bID} = "shorts" (half of pants)
{DIr paH bID} = "kilt like garment" (half of gown/dress of leather)

However, there's this Ca'Non sentence which messes me up:

{cha' choQmey naQ tu'lu' 'ej tep choQ bIngDaq lo' law' bID choQ tu'lu'} =
"2 full decks and a half utility deck under the cargo deck"

Indeed, the klingon {lo' law' bID choQ} maps exactly to the fse translation:

{lo' law' bID choQ} = "half utility deck" (deck of half utility)

But my problem is that reading the english "half utility deck", I'd expect
it to actually mean "half of a utility deck", in the context of perhaps
"half the hight/size/whatever" of a utility deck. And not "deck of the half
utility", because what the @!@# is "a deck of half utility" in the first
place ? It's like saying "deck of the half kitchen".

Anyways, I wouldn't lose any sleep over what this "deck of the half
utility" actually is, if this wouldn't make me question my understanding of
the way {bID} is to be used in noun-noun constructions.

Was the intention of this Ca'Non sentence to actually say "deck of the half
utility", case in which my understanding of the {bID} is correct ? Or is
the intention of this Ca'Non sentence to actually say "half the
(hight/size/whatever) of a utility deck" ? Because if the latter is true,
then I'd expect it to be {lo' law' choQ bID} "half of the deck of the
utility".

And returning to the time-eating aliens, is it right to say {pawpu' poHmey
Sopbogh novpu', 'ej DIS, DIS bID je Soppu'} for "the time-eating aliens
arrived and ate a year and a half", or do I need to say something else ?

~ lIr qIj
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