[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: qaw
Steven Boozer
sboozer at uchicago.edu
Mon Jul 11 08:34:55 PDT 2022
Klingon Word of the Day for Monday, July 11, 2022
Klingon word: qaw
Part of speech: noun
Definition: memory (the ability)
Source: Email from Lieven 2018-02-06
_______________________________________________
(Lieven < MO, 2/05/2018 re DSC "Will You Take My Hand?"): We've got {qawHaq} "memory banks". Maltz didn't know what {Haq} in this word was. (He said it has nothing to do with surgery — that's just a coincidence.) But {qaw}, he said, is a perfectly fine noun meaning memory in the sense of the ability to remember or the power of recall. It does not refer to specific memories or recollections. That's a different word: {wov'on}. It's more common to hear {wov'on qaw} "he/she remembers a memory" than {wov'on ghaj} "he/she has a memory", though the colloquial (English) translation of the former would be "he/she has a memory". Someone who remembers a lot of stuff or who can easily remember things (like dates or lines of a play) may be said to have a {qaw pov} "excellent memory."
Lieven, do you remember what the relevant line was in DISCOVERY?
CULTURAL NOTES:
(KGT 101f.): When taking a table's order, the {jabwI'} [i.e. food-server at a restaurant] neither writes anything down nor enters data into a computer. It is considered the duty of the {jabwI'} to remember ({qaw}) the choices and to bring the correct food, and servers tend to be quite skilled at this. On the rare occasion when the {jabwI'} has remembered incorrectly ({qawHa'}), the patron may reject ({lajQo'}) the dish. If the patron rejects a dish that the server believes has been properly remembered, however, the misunderstanding could develop into minor combat.
SEE:
qawHaq memory banks, data banks (n)
qaw remember (v)
qawHa' remember incorrectly (v)
qawmoH remind (v)
SEE ALSO:
ghov recognize (v)
rev quote (v)
lIj forget (v)
N.B. Do not confuse with {qaw’} "tip over, flip over".
--
Voragh, Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
Please contribute relevant vocabulary or notes from the last
year or two. I’ve fallen woefully behind in updating my files.
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