Klingon Word of the Day for Tuesday, February 28, 2023 Klingon word: qID Part of speech: noun Definition: joke _______________________________________________ AFAIK the noun has never been used in a sentence. (qepHom 2019 booklet p.18): Unless one is playing word games, the verb {qID} doesn’t take an object. It’s normally used along with {jatlh} "say" as in: {qID. jatlh: qoH SoH} "He/she jokes. He/she says: ‘You are a fool’" or the other way around: {jatlh: qoH SoH. qID.} "‘You are a fool.’ He/she is joking." Both of these could be translated something like "He/She jokes that you are a fool.” (KGT 132): One simile of this type associates a people with a quality opposite from one they actually typify: {nong; vulqangan rur} ("passionate as a Vulcan"). This would be used to describe somebody who was not passionate. As far as can be determined, this is the only use of irony in expressions of this type, and what led to this unique occurrence is not known. (HQ 10.2:11): There is a joke, Maltz recalled, about someone trying to lick some food off of a stirring stick while wearing shoes. Maltz laughed, but didn't tell the joke. (HQ 4.2:5-6): … that old Groucho Marx joke, you know: "I just shot an elephant in my pajamas... and how he got in my pajamas I'll never know." You can say that in Klingon, no problem; they'll get the joke. There's not many jokes you can get to translate into Klingon, but that one would work. PUN "to kid someone" TREK TRIVIA: “A joke is a story with a humorous climax.” (Spock to McCoy, ST4) OKONA: You don't know what a joke is?" DATA: Of course I do. It is a witticism, a gag, a bon mot, a fluctuation of words concluding with a trick ending. [TNG "The Outrageous Okona"] "Joke: a verbal comment or gesture designed to provoke laughter." (Borg Drone One to Doctor, VOY "Drone") SEVEN: I've designed new navigational sensors. Some of the alphanumerics are Borg. KIM: No problem. I always wanted to learn Borg. SEVEN: That is difficult to believe. KIM: I was kidding. It was a joke. You know, humor. SEVEN: I understand the concept of humor. It may not be apparent, but I am often amused by human behavior. [VOY “Revulsion”] WORF: I will kill him [i.e. Bashir]. EZRI: You’re kidding, right? WORF: And Jadzia said I did not have a sense of humor. [DS9 “What We Leave Behind, Pt. I”] LENARA KAHN: It's not exactly what every Klingon dreams about. KIRA: What do Klingons dream about? WORF: Things that would send cold chills down your spine and wake you in the middle of the night. It is better you do not know. KIRA: I can never tell when he’s joking. [DS9 "Rejoined"] “And you have a sense of humor. A concept that most Vulcans can't seem to grasp.” (Tolaris to T’Pol, ENT “Fusion”) “Forgive me, but are you making a joke? Cardassian humor escapes me.” (Odo to Garak, DS9 “Improbable Cause”] "I don't understand their humor either." (Worf to Data, TNG "The Naked Now") “I believe that a joke is a brief oral narrative with a climactic humorous twist. […] I've been studying how to make people laugh. They say that comedy is tragedy plus time. […] The philosopher Henri Bergson says it’s funny when a human being behaves like an object. […] Perhaps I’ll spend some time developing a unified theory of comedy, which will allow me to elicit laughter from anyone at any time. Unless they’re German, ’cause that’s a tough crowd.” (Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory, “The Hesitation Ramification” [January 2014]) SEE: qID joke, make/tell a joke (v) SEE ALSO: lut tlhaQ funny story (n) - lut tlhaQ DaSov'a' Do you know any funny stories? (PK; see also the two jokes in PK) ngajrun puzzle, riddle (n) Dap nonsense (n) Dogh be foolish, silly (v) toj deceive, trick (v) tlhaQ be funny (v) Hagh laugh (v) vaq mock (v) nuS ridicule (v) Sagh be serious (v) -- Voragh, Ca'Non Master of the Klingons Please contribute relevant vocabulary from recent qep’a’mey or qepHommey. I’ve fallen woefully behind in updating my files.