[tlhIngan Hol] clipped klingon formal or informal

De'vID de.vid.jonpin at gmail.com
Wed Feb 16 08:01:45 PST 2022


On Wed, 16 Feb 2022 at 15:34, Iikka Hauhio <fergusq at protonmail.com> wrote:

> De'vID:
>
> {Sey} probably *can* be used in a sexual context where the English
> "excited/exciting" might be used, but that's really just the normal meaning
> of the word applied to that context, and I don't see how it can be a source
> of confusion in general.
>
>
> In Finnish the word doesn't have any sexual connotations and there is a
> separate word that has only sexual connotations. I don't see how it can be
> "applied to sex".
>

I don't know Finnish, but surely there are words which apply both to sex
and to other situations? Tempting? Invigorating? Aggressive? Forbidden? And
with those words, surely you would just use context to understand the
meaning. Even if Finnish has clearly distinct words for "be in a heightened
state of emotion outside of a sexual context" and "be in a heightened state
of emotion in a sexual context", I don't believe that no words exist in the
entire language which can be used both in and outside of such a context.

If you read, "B'Elanna lunged aggressively at Tom Paris", you'd understand
the meaning depending on whether it's a fight scene or a sex scene.
Substitute "aggressive" for another word if that doesn't work, either.

I was reading *nuq bop bom* and it has several sexual scenes. How do I know
> if *Sey* refers to just general excitement or sexual excitement?
>

You just said it has several sexual scenes. I haven't read the book, but
presumably if {Sey} is used in such a scene, it refers to the heightening
of sexual feelings.


> I understand people want to talk about sexual things in Klingon, but I'd
> feel more comfortable when I know that a scene is supposed to have sexual
> tones and when it isn't. For example, when someone is excited when meeting
> someone, does that mean that they are happy because they meet them or
> because they have sexual feelings form them? I don't think it should be
> ambiguous.
>

Again, I don't see how this can be confusing. If a scene does not have
sexual tones already, and someone is excited to meet someone, then that
excitement isn't sexual. It's not ambiguous. Actually, I don't even think
the expression "excited to meet someone" can (normally) refer to sexual
excitement (unless the writer made it explicit that's what they meant as a
kind of wordplay on the word "excited" or something).

I suspect that there exists at least one Finnish word which maps to two
clearly distinct words in English (or Klingon), and that the same comment
can be made in the other direction, and it would be clear to you that there
is no confusion in Finnish.

-- 
De'vID
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