[tlhIngan Hol] Klingon Word of the Day: puq chonnaQ (noun)

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon Word of the Day for Friday, November 07, 2025

Klingon word: puq chonnaQ
Part of speech: noun
Definition: fork
Source: startrek.klingon newsgroup
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AFAIK not used in a sentence.

(st.k 5/05/1998):  The Klingon word for fork is {puq chonnaQ}. As is well known, Klingons prefer to get food into their mouths without the aid of implements (except for such things as the bowl containing soup or the goblet containing bloodwine). Nevertheless, they have become acquainted with the eating habits of other cultures and have become aware of such things as forks. On occasion, they'll even use the implements, most commonly when partaking of a non-Klingon meal (whether on a Klingon planet or elsewhere) but sometimes when eating Klingon food, as if to add an exotic touch to the meal experience. (Not all Klingons are skilled in using forks, however, and some simply refuse to deal with them. Those who do not use them seem to be not at all troubled by eating "foreign" food using Klingon means--that is, hands.) The term {puq chonnaQ} is, at least in origin, somewhat derisive. It literally means "child's hunting spear", suggesting that the eating implement is small and not very effective (though the actual child's spear, as opposed to the "fork," is useful for training in the art of hunting). The Klingon word for "spoon" is {baghneQ}. Even though spoons were never typically used when eating, the word appears to have been in the language for a long time, suggesting that it may once have meant something else. One theory is that it comes from {nagh beQ} "flat stone, flat rock" and that the initial sounds of the two words, {n} and {b}, were, for some reason, transposed. This is, however, just speculation.

(KGT 99):  Eating is done with hands only. There is no Klingon fork or spoon. If the cook has prepared the food properly, there should be no need to use a knife either, though, from time to time, one is quite useful.

SEE ALSO:
QIn vagh 		spearhead with multiple points (n)
taj			knife, dagger (n)
Soj naQmey 		chopsticks (n)
bo'Dagh 		scoop (n)

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons