[Tlhingan-hol] petaQ!

[Steven Boozer]

SuStel:
> A footnote in the paq'batlh (pp. 70–1) claims that {petaQ} is derived
> from {taQ} "be weird" with the plural imperative prefix {pe-}, and that
> it means "something like 'weirdo.'"

It would be nice to finally pin this down.  

Other's have observed the possible derivation.  That's pretty much what Kevin Geiselman guessed back sometime in the 1990's:

  To call someone a {petaQ} would be calling him some sort
  of weirdo or pervert."  [Kevin A. Geiselman, 199-?]

It was used once "officially" in KCD:

   [K'Tar] glared at Qua'lon, then spit on the floor.
   "You {petaQ}! Your men have ransacked my home. Taken my belongings,
  my treasures, beaten my son, dRacLa." (KCD novelization, p.166)

Paramount though uses it as their go-to Klingon epithet:

- Defecting Romulan General Alidar Jarok sees Worf in Enterprise's sick bay and asks Riker, "Tell me, how do you allow this Klingon pahtk to walk around in a Starfleet uniform?" Worf grunts something threatening and Jarok replies, "Get this tohzah out of my sight!" Riker smugly comments that "only a veruul" would say that, thus trumping Jarok's knowledge of Klingon curses with his own knowledge of Romulan. (TNG "The Defector")

- Duras is communicating with Arbiter of Succession Picard about the Sonchi-ceremony for K'mpec. He sees Worf, at the time discommended, enter the bridge. "Keep that pahtak away from the ceremony, Picard! He has no place on a Klingon ship." (TNG "Reunion")

 - J'Dan, a Klingon exobiologist working on the Enterprise, is suspected of sabotaging the warp core. As Worf escorts him to his quarters where he is to be confined, J'Dan tries to persuade Worf to help him steal a shuttle and escape in exchange for helping Worf to regain his honor. Worf is silent, but when they reach their destination he hits J'Dan several times and snarls at him, "I don't know how you transferred secret information to the Romulans, but I will find out!" The man spits out "petaQ!". Worf continues: "And when we inform the High Council, they will put you to a slow death!" (TNG "The Drumhead")

 - Worf says there's evidence of a Klingon having been abroad a Federation outpost, where messages have been stolen. Klingon governor Torak isn't pleased: "You still try to blame us!" "Have the courage to admit your mistakes," Worf says, "or are you a lo'Be Vos?" "At least I don't wear the uniform of a p'tak!" Torak retorts. (TNG "Aquiel")

 - Kahless has apparently returned from the dead but Gowron is not a believer. As he is transported aboard the Enterprise, Picard is there to welcome him. "Where is he, Picard?" "I assume that you're referring to Kahless." "I am referring to the filthy pahtk who's using his name!" (TNG "Rightful Heir")

 - Quark has been kidnapped and awakens in a room in the presence of Tumek, an elderly Klingon. "Where am I?" ... "You are in the ancestral home of what used to be known as the House of Kozak." "What's it called now?" "Kozak died without a male heir... the house no longer has a name." "What about Kozak's brother, D'Ghor?" "That pahtak's name is not spoken in this house! He is no brother to Kozak! His family has been a sworn enemy to this house for seven generations!" (DS9 "House of Quark")

 - Three Klingons come down laughing from Quark's holosuites and notice some Romulans sitting around the table. They surround the table and Morka speaks: "Who let these filthy p'tahk in here?" Another replies "Maybe we should show them the way out" (Visionary)

 - "Klingon" B'Elanna rescues weak and timid "human" B'Elanna from the Vidiians, telling her to "Get up, p'tahk!" when she regains consciousness after fainting. (VOY "Faces")

 - Kor calls Worf "this traitorous p'tak!" (DS9 "The Sword of Kahless")

 - Worf throws a thief he caught onto Odo's desk saying, "This p'tak just robbed my quarters!" (Bar Association)

 - Regent Worf growls to Mirror-Garak, "So this is the p'tak who lost Terok Nor to the rebels." (DS9 "Shattered Mirror")

 - B'Ellana categorically rejects Tom Paris' suggestion regarding Ens Vorik: "I am NOT helping that Vulcan p'tak." (VOY "Blood Fever")

 - The Doctor's holo-son Jeffrey shouted, "I'm going to become a warrior and I can't do that if I'm being led around on a leash by some bloodless patahk!" (VOY "Real Life")

 - "I'm leaving." "Not till you have completed the ceremony, p'tahk!" (VOY "Day of Honor")

 - B'Elanna comments: "They say that the doctor who operates on himself has a p'tak for a patient." (VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy")

 – B'Ellana's talks with an old acquintance from the Academy: "What did you use to call me?" "P'tak." "I'm not the p'tak I used to be." (VOY "Equinox")

 – Gen. Korok warns Axum: "P'tak, I'll rip your heart out!" (VOY "Unimatrix Zero, Pt. I")


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons