Klingon Word of the Day: chop (verb)
Klingon Word of the Day for Friday, June 05, 2026 Klingon word: chop Part of speech: verb Definition: bite Source: TKD (83 KE, 122 EK) This Klingon Word of the Day is brought to you by qurgh (qurgh@kli.org).
Klingon Word of the Day for Friday, June 05, 2026 Klingon word: chop Part of speech: verb Definition: bite _______________________________________________ chop'a' Does it bite? (TKD) 'uSDaj chop! chev! Bite his/her leg off! (PK) HIchop, bang. Give us a kiss, love. (Radio Times) (KGT 89): ... in the case of the {naHlet yub} (nut shell). Klingons typically gnaw ({choptaH}--literally, continue biting) on the nut until it cracks open, and then they spit out ({tlhIS}) the pieces of shell (occasionally at a nearby diner, as a gesture of sociability) before chewing and swallowing the rest. Similarly, they will usually gnaw on the hard pit of some fruits ({naHnagh}--literally, fruit stone) until it can be chewed and swallowed, but it is not considered out of place to treat the pit as a shell and spit out the pieces. For "kiss," {chop} seems to have become the established translation. But, of course, to {chop} is to kiss Klingon-style. To make it clear that that's not what's happening in Oz, I was going to suggest {pe'vIlHa' chop}. I see you used {pe'vIlHa' chop} for when the witch kissed Dorothy "gently on the forehead," so, unless that changes, you can't use {pe'vIl chop} for "(non-Klingon) kiss" in general. Maybe {loQ chop} will work for the more general case. Or maybe just use {chop} and let it go at that. There's no straightforward, simple Klingon word for "(human-style) kiss." A non-standard, slangy expression for this is {'ep}. And Maltz says he thinks he once heard someone say {qab rem}, but he tried hard to picture that and didn't consider it to be good Klingon at all - not even good slang. [Okrand, https://klingon.wiki/En/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz ] PUN: "chomp"? SEE ALSO: noS nibble (v) ghup swallow (v) roS lick (v) yIv chew (v) Sop eat (v) wom peck (v) TREK NOTES: The Doctor explained to Seven that "Klingon males initiate courtship by biting the female." (VOY "Someone to Watch Over Me"); this occurs somewhere "that is not life threatening" (TNG "Genesis"). A genetically de-evolved Worf bit Deanna Troi on the cheek when beginning the mating process. (TNG "Genesis") "Kiss the girl, get the key. They never taught me that in the Obsidian Order." (Garak to Bashir, DS9 "Our Man Bashir") -- Voragh Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
We recently had a discussion in the German Discord group about this word. The question was: If I bite off of piece of pizza, is it enough to say {chop}? Somebody mentioned the example from PK, so the idea of separating something must be expressed by adding {chev}. How do you see that? Does {chop} really mean just "bite"? Or does it also mean "bite off"? Does {pItSa' vIchop} sound like I bite the pizza and then just leave it between my teeth? Am 05.06.2026 um 16:41 schrieb Steven Boozer via tlhIngan-Hol:
Klingon Word of the Day for Friday, June 05, 2026
Klingon word: chop Part of speech: verb Definition: bite _______________________________________________
chop'a' Does it bite? (TKD)
'uSDaj chop! chev! Bite his/her leg off! (PK)
HIchop, bang. Give us a kiss, love. (Radio Times)
(KGT 89): ... in the case of the {naHlet yub} (nut shell). Klingons typically gnaw ({choptaH}--literally, continue biting) on the nut until it cracks open, and then they spit out ({tlhIS}) the pieces of shell (occasionally at a nearby diner, as a gesture of sociability) before chewing and swallowing the rest. Similarly, they will usually gnaw on the hard pit of some fruits ({naHnagh}--literally, fruit stone) until it can be chewed and swallowed, but it is not considered out of place to treat the pit as a shell and spit out the pieces.
For "kiss," {chop} seems to have become the established translation. But, of course, to {chop} is to kiss Klingon-style. To make it clear that that's not what's happening in Oz, I was going to suggest {pe'vIlHa' chop}. I see you used {pe'vIlHa' chop} for when the witch kissed Dorothy "gently on the forehead," so, unless that changes, you can't use {pe'vIl chop} for "(non-Klingon) kiss" in general. Maybe {loQ chop} will work for the more general case. Or maybe just use {chop} and let it go at that. There's no straightforward, simple Klingon word for "(human-style) kiss." A non-standard, slangy expression for this is {'ep}. And Maltz says he thinks he once heard someone say {qab rem}, but he tried hard to picture that and didn't consider it to be good Klingon at all - not even good slang. [Okrand, https://klingon.wiki/En/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz ]
PUN: "chomp"?
SEE ALSO: noS nibble (v) ghup swallow (v) roS lick (v) yIv chew (v) Sop eat (v) wom peck (v)
TREK NOTES: The Doctor explained to Seven that "Klingon males initiate courtship by biting the female." (VOY "Someone to Watch Over Me"); this occurs somewhere "that is not life threatening" (TNG "Genesis"). A genetically de-evolved Worf bit Deanna Troi on the cheek when beginning the mating process. (TNG "Genesis")
"Kiss the girl, get the key. They never taught me that in the Obsidian Order." (Garak to Bashir, DS9 "Our Man Bashir")
-- Voragh Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
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-- Lieven L. Litaer aka the "Klingon Teacher from Germany" https://tlhInganHol.com https://klingon.wiki/En/AliceInWonderland
From: tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol-bounces@lists.kli.org> On Behalf Of Lieven L. Litaer via tlhIngan-Hol
Does {chop} really mean just "bite"? Or does it also mean "bite off"?
It just means "bite." In English, "bite" alone doesn't imply "bite off," and {chop} wasn't defined as "bite off." {chop} means to close the teeth against something. {'uSDaj chop. chev.} means to do two things: bite the leg (and) separate it (from its owner). No doubt insufferable Klingon nerds would, at this point, demonstrate biting something, then releasing it, taking out a knife, and cutting it off of whatever it's part of and say, "See? See? I bit it and separated it, just like you said! See?"
Wasn’t there an audio recording of Worf teaching us verbal commands for dogs/targhmey that included the two verbs in this sequence, as stated here: PuSDaj chop. chev. I remember the term “phonographic memory”... pItlh charghwI’ ‘utlh (ghaH, ghaH, -Daj)
On Jun 9, 2026, at 2:25 PM, SuStel via tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol@lists.kli.org> wrote:
From: tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol-bounces@lists.kli.org> On Behalf Of Lieven L. Litaer via tlhIngan-Hol
Does {chop} really mean just "bite"? Or does it also mean "bite off"?
It just means "bite." In English, "bite" alone doesn't imply "bite off," and {chop} wasn't defined as "bite off." {chop} means to close the teeth against something.
{'uSDaj chop. chev.} means to do two things: bite the leg (and) separate it (from its owner). No doubt insufferable Klingon nerds would, at this point, demonstrate biting something, then releasing it, taking out a knife, and cutting it off of whatever it's part of and say, "See? See? I bit it and separated it, just like you said! See?" _______________________________________________ tlhIngan-Hol mailing list tlhIngan-Hol@lists.kli.org http://lists.kli.org/listinfo.cgi/tlhingan-hol-kli.org
participants (5)
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Klingon Word of the Day -
Lieven L. Litaer -
Steven Boozer -
SuStel -
Will Martin