[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: ghob

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon Word of the Day for Monday, May 05, 2025

Klingon word: ghob
Part of speech: noun
Definition: virtue
_______________________________________________

tlhIngan ghobmey paq 
The Klingon Book of Virtues [original title of _The Klingon Way_ (Library of Congress MARC-CIP)]

pop 'oH ghob'e' 
Virtue is the reward. 
["This proverb does not mean 'Virtue is honor'.  The use of the word {pop} suggests that virtue is the honor bestowed as a result of acting in a manner respectful of society's values, not simply advocating them." (TKW 47)]

 ghob tIvnISbe'lu' 
One need not enjoy virtue. TKW 
["The Klingon construction {tIvnISbe'} means 'does not need to enjoy'; {tIvbe'nIS} would mean 'needs to not enjoy', an utterly different concept." TKW 48]

qorDu' SaHlu'chugh 'ej matlhlu'chugh vaj wa' tlhIngan ghob potlhqu' 
devotion and loyalty to family is one of the most important Klingon virtues. (S13)

tlhIngan wo' nur ghob je HoSmoH quvvam 
With it, I restore pride and values of the Klingon Empire (PB)

Hoch qImmoH mu'meyDaj / ghob 'agh 'ej val 
All were bemused by his words, Wise and full of spirit (PB) 

ghob batlh je jub Hevjaj 
Let endless battle and honor await them! (PB)

batlh ghob yIpab 
Adhere to virtue honorably. 
["The Klingon verb in the expression, {pab}, is here translated adhere, but it is also used to mean follow, in the sense of following rules, suggesting perhaps that, though not officially laws, virtues should be followed as if they were." (TKW 47)]

(TKW vii):  A virtue is a particularly valued quality or a form of behavior that exemplifies moral correctness, as defined by a society... Indeed, the Klingon word {ghob} may be translated as ethics or virtue, linguistic evidence that the concept is not unknown or never discussed among the Klingons themselves. It is probably significant that the Klingon word for do battle, or wage war is likewise {ghob}. Though some, perhaps many, of a society's virtues are represented in its legal codes, a virtue is not a law. A violation of a virtue need not carry with it any legal sanction. A virtue does not even have to be followed all the time to still be considered a virtue. What is important is that members of the society agree that the virtue represents what should be done, even if it is not done. When a virtue is ignored, all recognize the transgression, even if there are no immediate consequences. 

(TKW 189):  those who violate the rules of their own cultures and do not observe their own virtues are acting dishonorably and are not to be trusted.

TREK NOTES:
  "Virtue is a relative term, Doctor." (Spock to McCoy, TOS "Friday's Child")

  "Kor admires the virtues in one Organian, unaware that he is a Starfleet officer." (TKW 122 ill.; TOS "Errand of Mercy")

  See _The Ethics of Star Trek_ by Judith Barad & Ed Robinson (NY: HarperCollins, 2000)

SEE ALSO:
batlh		honor [general term] (n)
tIgh 		custom (n)
potlh 		a value (n)
qangtlhIn 	ideology, beliefs, principles, standards, ethics (n)
lalDan 		religion

pab 		follow (rules, customs), adhere to (v)
lob 		obey (v)

yem 		sin (v)
wem 		violate (v)
wogh 		transgress, do more than is acceptable (v)

MISC QUOTES:
  "Success is not final, failure is not fatal:  it is the courage to continue that counts.  Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues, for upon it all others depend." (Winston Churchill)

  "Those are my principles; if you don't like them, I have others." (Groucho Marx)

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons