[Tlhingan-hol] More new words from Maltz

[De'vID jonpIn]

>> (3) For "double agent," Maltz liked the slang expression jey'naS ghoqwI'
>> (literally, "double-headed ax spy").  He said the non-slang term 'o'wen
>> could also be used for "double agent," but its meaning is a bit broader --
>> it's used to refer to someone (or something) of ambiguous status.  As
>> Maltz
>> put it, "You're not quite sure if it's this or that. You think it's one
>> thing, and it may be, but it may be another."

Qov:
> And who is the Owen in US culture or television to whom Marc refers?

Speaking of which, is there a reference behind {lInDab}?  I'd always
assumed that there was a famous spy named Linda B., or some espionage
incident involving such a woman.

>> be straight (v) is wan  (so "crooked" or "bent" would be wanHa')

There is an Indo-European root "wanha" with exactly this meaning.

See, e.g., Table 10 row 9 in the following handout:
http://uni-freiburg.academia.edu/MartinK%C3%BCmmel/Papers/350091/The_distribution_of_IE_roots_in_ND
wanha- 'bent, crooked' GES [= Gothic, English, Saxon]

Those of you who know Pali or Sanskrit might've recognised the
similarity to this:
http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:881.pali
http://www.dicts.info/dictionary.php?l1=English&l2=Pali&word=va%E1%B9%85ka&Search=Search

>> model, example, pattern (n) is ghantoH  (Maltz is assuming this refers to
>> something one copies or refers to in making things --  or something along
>> those lines)

Aside from the word "touchstone", is this a more specific reference?
For example, a reference to Touchstone Pictures?

-- 
De'vID