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

[Steven Boozer]

Klingon Word of the Day for Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Klingon word: teghbat
Part of speech: noun
Definition: *teg'bat*, type of animal
Source: KGT
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(KGT 95):  A popular effervescent drink, black in color, is called {'awje'}.  This is frequently, though not accurately, translated as "root beer," probably because of its superficial resemblance to the Federation soft drink, but it is made from, among other things, the marrow ({melchoQ}) taken from the bones of a {teghbat} (teg'bat). It is considered relatively mild, even for a Klingon nonalcoholic drink.

SEE:
'awje'  		type of beverage (e.g. root beer) (n) 

'awje' vItlhutlh; HIq vItlhutlh 'e' qa' 
I drink root beer instead of liquor. (qep'a' 2018)

'awje' vItlhutlh; HIq ('e') qa' 
I drink root beer instead of liquor. (qep'a' 2018) 

(SuSvaj [date?]):  I was surprised to learn that we were using {'awje'} incorrectly at the qep'a' [loSDIch]. It is not a general term for any non-potent drink, but is a specific beverage, that is similar in appearance to root beer. In fact, Okrand points out that there is no single all-purpose word for soft drink.

(Lawrence Schoen on KGT, HQ 6.2: 20):  Okrand was quick to point out that this was not a literal translation, but rather more of a generic term for a nonpotent beverage, one which occurs in Klingon proverbs and was probably what Worf meant when remarking that you cannot pry secrets out of someone with root beer. 

(Lieven, 12/16/2021):  As a nitpicking side note: the phrase {qo'la' 'awje'} can probably refer to any brand of cola (Pepsi Cola, Africola, etc.) The phrase {qo'qa' qo'la'} is the name of a specific brand.

TREK NOTES:
  Quark and Elim Garak both despised root beer, calling it "vile" and considering it a metaphor for the "insidious" pervasiveness of the Federation. Quark remarked to Garak that root beer was "so bubbly and cloying, and happy... just like the Federation", also noting that "if you drink enough of it, you begin to like it - just like the Federation." Quark asserted that Nog's acquired taste for the beverage heralded the end of Ferengi civilization.  [DS9 "Facets", "The Way of the Warrior, Part II"]

QUARK:  My own brother drinking root beer. It's so... human. 
ROM:      Mmmm. And bubbly.  [DS9 "The Ascent"]

Dax:	I take it you think the, uh, Federation membership is going to be good for business.
Quark:	Of course it is.  This station is going to be busier than an Alvanian beehive.
               I'm expecting to do five times the volume in root beer alone.
               You see... it's all about foot traffic.  The more people come in, the more they drink.
               The more they drink, the more they talk.  The more they talk the more they let 
               slip things that I shouldn't know and that...  oh, that always leads to latinum.
Worf:	Perhaps so, but there is one problem.
Quark:	What's that?
Worf:	There is an ancient Klingon proverb that says "You cannot loosen a man's tongue
               with root beer." [DS9 "Rapture"]

And if you don't like root beer there's always Slug-o-Cola.  "I don't think Slug-o-Cola has changed its advertising slogan in three hundred years: "Drink Slug-o-Cola! The slimiest cola in the galaxy!"  It's green, it's the best-selling soft drink in the Ferengi Alliance, its chief competitor is Eelwasser.  [Rom, et al., DS9 "Profit and Lace"]

SEE ALSO:
char  			be slimy (v)
tera' nagh DIr charwI' 	snail, slug (n)

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons