[tlhIngan Hol] expressing "unguent"

mayqel qunen'oS mihkoun at gmail.com
Thu Nov 4 08:00:03 PDT 2021


At first I read at merriam-webster: unguent (n) a soothing or healing
salve: ointment.

Then I pressed on the "ointment": ointment (n) a salve or unguent for
application to the skin.

"Thanks for nothing.." I thought.. So, I pressed on the "salve": salve
(n) an unctuous adhesive substance for application to wounds or sores.

And then I thought, what the hell? Are you kidding me? So I pressed on
the "unctuous": unctuous (adj) a) fatty, oily b) smooth and greasy in
texture or appearance.

Throwing all of the above in the blender, I finally thought that
perhaps I could use "paste", so I put that too in merriam-webster:
paste (n) a dough that contains a considerable proportion of fat and
is used for pastry crust or fancy rolls.

(I've only included the relevenant merriam-webster definitions).

And then I thought, that perhaps I could use "cream", because when I
hear "cream" my mind goes to..

"Creams are semisolid dosage forms containing more than 20% water or
volatile components and typically less than 50% hydrocarbons, waxes,
or polyols as vehicles. They may also contain one or more drug
substances dissolved or dispersed in a suitable cream base". (Source:
Wikipedia - "Cream (pharmacy)" article).

So, without a second thought, I grabbed {qulcher} (n) "cream" by the
hair, which was conveniently grazing somewhere nearby, and I thought:
"Good.. This will do; all I have to do is place a {Hergh} before the
{qulcher} and bob's your uncle (as Americans say)".

But then I put "cream" in merriam-webster, which in turn said: cream
(n) a) the yellowish part of milk containing from 18 to about 40
percent butterfat b) something having the consistency of cream.
especially: a usually emulsified medicinal or cosmetic preparation.

And I wondered, does the Klingon {qulcher} include the "medicinal"
kind? I noticed that the word for "ice cream" is {nIm qulcher taD};
not just {qulcher taD}. So, logically speaking, since the literal
translation of {nIm qulcher taD} is "frozen cream of milk", then the
{qulcher} isn't by definition something "made of milk".

...And perhaps it isn't by definition something which must be
necessarily edible. So, for lack of a better alternative, I'm inclined
to start using {Hergh qulcher}.

-- 
Dana'an
https://sacredtextsinklingon.wordpress.com/
Ζεὺς ἦν, Ζεὺς ἐστίν, Ζεὺς ἔσσεται· ὦ μεγάλε Ζεῦ



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