[tlhIngan Hol] expressing goddess

[Will Martin]

There are other examples in English. A young prankster is often referred to as a “real pistol”, even though under normal conditions there’s no physical association between a hand weapon and a mischievous boy. People “spearhead” a mission or project. Considering specific individuals, there was the gangster, Machine Gun Kelly. A leader in technology or research is often referred to as The Cutting Edge in their field. An impressive performer is “Da Bomb”.

It’s not a stretch to think that Klingons would describe a special, trusted relationship in terms of a weapon. 

charghwI’ vaghnerya’ngan

rInpa’ bomnIS be’’a’ pI’.




> On Apr 15, 2021, at 10:18 AM, Steven Boozer <sboozer at uchicago.edu> wrote:
> 
> De’vID, thanks for the DeCandido citation. 
>  
> Using the name of a weapon to refer to a person is not unknown, although the only ones in English I can think of right now are “gunsel” (a criminal carrying a gun) and “hired gun” (a hit man or, more broadly, anyone hired for a specific and often ethically dubious job). 
>  
> Speaking of which, the Soviet Cheka (forerunner of the NKVD/MGB/KGB/FSB, etc.) was called in Russian Меч и щит революции (“The Sword and Shield of the Revolution”).  See https://litci.org/en/the-cheka-sword-and-shield-of-the-revolution/ <https://litci.org/en/the-cheka-sword-and-shield-of-the-revolution/> and also https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/cheka/ <https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/cheka/> which has a picture of a Cheka badge featuring the sword.
>  
> Can you and Lieven think of examples in German?
>  
> __
> Voragh
> ________________________________________________________________
> From: tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol-bounces at lists.kli.org> On Behalf Of De'vID
> 
> On Wed, 14 Apr 2021 at 17:17, Steven Boozer <sboozer at uchicago.edu <mailto:sboozer at uchicago.edu>> wrote:
> AFAIK Okrand has never provided an official spelling, but see {ghIntaq} “battle spear” which may well be a metaphor for the person.
>  
> In the glossary to K.R.A. DeCandido's "A Burning House", on p.393, it says:
>  
> "{ghIntaq}. A type of spear with a wooden haft and a curved, two-bladed metal point. Also the name given to a person who serves as a close and trusted adviser to a House. It is possible that the latter usage evolved from the first, with the adviser being analogized to a House head's trusted weapon. Sometimes Anglicized as gin'tak. [Spear first seen in "Birthright Part 2" (TNG); adviser first referenced in "Firstborn" (TNG).]"
>  
> -- 
> De'vID
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