[tlhIngan Hol] qep'a' 2021 new word puns

[James Landau]

Here were the ones I've found so far:

bet (to impale) -- a back-formation from *betleH* (bat'leth)
cheyIS (cephalopod) -- a reference to the Star Trek episode "The Chase", perhaps? (As I recall I've seen that mentioned a few times here as the episode that explains why the same taxa of life appear on different planets around the galaxy and look similar.)
DamSayrotlh (hippopotamus) -- translates as "hard to consider clean". Maybe the hippo's tendency to splash in the mud, combined with the rules about eating hippo meat in kashrut?
HuDngech (to be brittle) -- sounds like Chengdu backwards, although I'm not sure what Chengdu has to do with sine waves -- perhaps the prefix Sino- for Chinese?
lIS'ab (rodent) -- like Basil the Rat, from Fawlty Towers
majaj (lettuce/cabbage) -- "let us"
mur (to wince, to cringe, to flinch) -- from "demur"?
'Ing and nam (to move clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively) -- England and Vietnam . . . in the English-speaking world, clocks run clockwise, but I did a little research and found here: https://qz.com/994486/the-way-you-draw-circles-says-a-lot-about-you/ that the Vietnamese are the world's most likely people to draw a circle counterclockwise, at 95%. Interestingly, we also got a (requested) word for Vietnam (vIyetnam) this go-round . . . maybe that was part of the inspiration?
naptop (eclipse) -- backwards, this makes "pot" and "pan" -- I'm not sure what the relevance is here, though
ngur (to be autistic/Aspie) -- maybe "nerd"?
pu'porgh (ginger) -- this translates to "horn-body" -- a literal translation of the Sanskrit etymon of this Wanderwort
qIn (to moan, to groan) -- like keening?
roSmaH (chromosome) -- this word was my own request. Means "we licks" -- a multiple version of *roSghaH*, the word for DNA, which translates to "he licks", as in a double helix.
rubyo' (politician) -- from Marco Rubio
Sotlhqel (yolk) -- lactose backwards?
SuqwIl (hiss) -- like "squeal"
tIH wej (gamma ray) -- "wej" was chosen because gamma is the third letter in the Greek alphabet
tlhargh (to explore) -- like Lewis and Clark
vo'nung (phase) -- sounds like "Wohnung", the German word for dwelling, but I'm not sure what the relevance is here
wu' (to be mystical, to be esoteric, to be occult) -- like "woo-woo", or "quantum woo"
wu'tIbIS (superstition) -- to exhibit woo?
yelneHSIQ (vanadium) -- backwards, this is Chris Henley -- anyone have any idea who Chris Henley is? Googling "'chris henley' vanadium" doesn't help.
yoghan (renaissance, revival) -- maybe because the Gothic revival catehdral known as the Nunoike Church, or Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, is in Nagoya?
'ayIvlaS (moss) -- "salvia" backwards
'ejyaH (infinity) -- *'ej* is "and", while *yaH* backwards is *Hay* -- area beyond. So, the Buzz Lightyear quote: to infinity "and beyond"!


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