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<p>Your suspicion is correct.</p>
<br>
On 7/26/2016 2:15 PM, Elizabeth Lawrence wrote:<br>
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<blockquote
cite="mid:CAG_hjBSW1X3GJC=agO8OOfT79BfhjABSF2_H3o99gRRTehvBcQ@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">I suspect you would agree that <<magh
vIchIp>> is no more incorrect than "I give the lawn a
haircut." I will be satisfied with that.
<div><br>
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<div>be''etlh</div>
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<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jul 26, 2016 at 1:55 PM, SuStel
<span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:sustel@trimboli.name" target="_blank">sustel@trimboli.name</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
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<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"><span class="">
<div>On 7/26/2016 1:35 PM, Elizabeth Lawrence wrote:<br>
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<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">No, I would not speak of mowing
someone's hair, but I would certainly speak of
trimming the lawn. <<chIp>> is glossed
as "cut, trim (hair)".</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
</span>
<p>But the English word <i>trim</i> doesn't mean "cut
hair." It means "make shorter by cutting." The Klingon
word <b>chIp,</b> however, means "make <i>hair</i>
shorter by cutting." English <i>trim</i> can be applied
to things other than hair, and is not even especially
associated with hair.<br>
</p>
<span class="">
<p><br>
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<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">When hair is cut or trimmed, it is
shortened for aesthetic effect. I don't know that
Klingons have the notion of mowing lawns at all, and
"Giving the grass a haircut" is certainly much more
descriptive of what is happening than "Cutting the
grass" would be to people who have no tradition of
mown lawns.</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
</span>
<p>Maltz gave us the phrase <b>magh yotlh,</b> so he at
least understands the concept and could declare a
"correct" phrase for it.</p>
<p>Whether "giving the grass a haircut" is a better
description of the act than "cutting the grass" is
subjective, and I'm not sure I agree that it's more
descriptive. One relies on metaphor; the other is
straightforward. And there are other reasons to mow
grass than just for aesthetics: sports fields need to be
mown if they are grassy; tall grass can support
dangerous fauna, obstruct vision, and hinder the
operation of vehicles; some animals eat hay. Since <b>magh</b>
is a Klingon plant <i>like</i> grass, they must deal
with it from time to time, either obliterating it or
mowing it. Or maybe even using it decoratively.<br>
</p>
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<p><br>
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<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">I will continue with magh chIpwI' as
the much more evocative</div>
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<br>
</span> ...and incorrect...<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr"> phrase.</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
I dislike playing the "a Klingon would" game, where we
project our ideas of what a Klingon would
do/say/believe/prefer and use that straw man as an
argument for Klingon grammar. Barring information from
Okrand, using <b>chIp</b> as <i>mow</i> is, at best,
poetic license. The standard verb is <b>pe'</b><i> cut.</i>
If you like, use <b>runmoH</b> <i>shorten</i> along with
it to get your point across.<span class="HOEnZb"><font
color="#888888"><br>
<p><br>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
SuStel
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://trimboli.name">http://trimboli.name</a></pre>
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