Klingon Word of the Day for Sunday, October 13, 2019 Klingon word: nelchu' Part of speech: verb Definition: fit in perfectly, fit perfectly Source: qepHom 2018 _______________________________________________ (Lieven, qepHom 2018): ... like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle SEE: nel match, pair up, map onto (v) (qep'a' 2018) (Lieven, qep'a' 2018): ... like when fingerprints match (Lieven < MO, 12/02/2018): {nel} is a verb and means to match up. It does not mean that two things are identical, it means that they match up, such as two pieces of a puzzle match or when you tear off a piece of paper, this is the only piece that will match up with the paper. (Lieven, 11/21/2018): BACKGROUND: At the qepHom, we played the game where you have to find two matching cards. (In German, we call that "memory", but Okrand told me that in English it's called "concentration".) I wanted to call the game something like {nelwI'} or {tInelmoH}, which Okrand rejected both, as it sounds strange. … So I labeled the game with {chang'engmey}. (MO, qepHom 2018): As for {nel} - The more I think about it, {tInel} is not so good. But {tInelmoH} is not so good either. You are correct - {nel} works like {rur}. So you can say {A nel B} "B matches A". You can also say {nelchuq A B je} "A and B match each other". When you say {tInel}, the subject (unspoken, because it's an imperative) is "you," but what is the object? If you say {A yInel}, the subject is "you" and the object, presumably, is A, but this would mean something like "Match A!" (that is, it's a command for you to match A or match up with A). Similarly, {A B je tInel} is a command for you to be a match with both A and B. Let's look at the construction if imperative is not involved (and let's switch to singular). What would {Danel} mean? {A Danel} is something like "you match A". {A B je Danel} is "you match both A and B" (that is, you are a match with A and you are also a match with B). That's not what we're trying to say. So how about {nelmoH}? {A DanelmoH} might mean "you cause A to match", but match what? {A B je DanelmoH} might mean "you cause A and B to match", but that doesn't mean A and B are matching each other - it means you cause A and B to match something else - but what? The problem is that {nel} takes a subject and an object (the two things that match each other), but not a third thing. And you can't use the prefix trick with {nelmoH} because there is no non-third-person indirect object. So to give the command "Make A match B!", you have to do it periphrastically. (De'vID < MO, 1/22/2019): {qoch} is not the word for partner when referring to socks and gloves and the like. The word for that is {nelwI'}. With {nel}, the subject is one sock (or glove or shoe or whatever) of the pair and the object is the other. To talk about a sock (or glove or …) matching (that is fitting onto) a foot (or hand or …), use the verb {mey}: {mumey waqmeywIj} my shoes fit (literally, "my shoes fit me"). {torgh lumey waqmey} "the shoes fit Torg". {waqmeywIj vImey} "I fit my shoes". When a piece of a jigsaw puzzle fits into the right spot, you can say: {Qay'mol mey (Qay'mol) teSra'} "the (puzzle) piece fits (into) the puzzle". (In this context, you don't have to repeat {Qay'mol}, but it's fine if you do.) or {nelchu' Qay'mol teSra'} "the puzzle piece fits perfectly". The first focuses on the interlocking of the pieces; the second focuses on the piece in question occupying the identically shaped space where it goes. SEE ALSO: rur resemble (v) nIb be identical (v) rap be the same (v) pIm be different (v) Sar be varied, various (v) -- Voragh Ca'Non Master of the Klingons