[Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: bortaS

[Steven Boozer]

Voragh:
>>   bortaS bIr jablu'DI' reH QaQqu' nay'
>>   "Revenge is a dish best served cold." TKD
>>
>> [Originally a quote by one of the Borgias?  Used by Mario Puzo in
>>  _The Godfather_ and by Joseph Goebbels in his book _Vom Kaiserhof
>> zur Reichskanslei_.]

QeS:
> Further odd facts relevant to the Klingon version: the English version
> was also attributed as an "Old Klingon proverb" by Quentin Tarantino in
> the intro of the film Kill Bill Vol. 1, and the Klingon phrase was
> directly quoted by Jim Parsons (at Wil Wheaton!) in the Big Bang Theory
> episode "The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary".

And supposedly Wil Wheaton was able to translate it immediately!  

According to the WikiPedia article on "Revenge" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenge):

   "The first written appearance of the proverb "revenge is a dish best served cold" is often wrongly credited to the novel _Les liaisons dangereuses_ (1782); it does not, in fact, appear there in any form. It is also said to have been borrowed by late 19th century British writers from the Afghan Pashtuns. However, its earliest identified appearance in European literature is in the 1841 French novel _Mathilde_ by Marie Joseph Eugène Sue: "la vengeance se mange très-bien froide" - there italicized as if quoting a proverbial saying - published in English translation in 1846 as "revenge is very good eaten cold".
   "The popularly familiar wording can be attributed to _The Godfather_ by Mario Puzo, a major bestseller in 1969, but the 1949 film _Kind Hearts and Coronets_ had it as "revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold". The familiar wording more recently appears in the title sequence of the 2003 Quentin Tarantino film "Kill Bill: Vol 1", first used as an "Old Klingon Proverb", referencing its use in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan', which so cites it.
   "The proverb suggests that revenge is more satisfying as a considered response enacted when unexpected, or long feared, inverting the more traditional revulsion toward 'cold-blooded' violence. In early literature it is used, usually, to persuade another to forestall vengeance until wisdom can reassert itself. This sense is lost in recent presentations."


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons