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

[Steven Boozer]

> Klingon Word of the Day for Friday, November 30, 2012
> 
> Klingon word:   ret
> Part of speech: noun
> Definition:     time period ago (past)

> Source: HQ (8:3 p3):

It follows the noun specifying the length of time involved, as in {cha' tup ret} "two minutes ago". It is to {poH} what {Hu'} is to {jaj}. (One might say that these are associated with the word {poH} "period of time".) These words follow the more specific time units. For example, "two minutes ago" is {cha' tup ret} ... "Two minutes from now" is {cha' tup pIq}. (It is also possible, though not necessary, to use the plural suffixes with the time units if there is more than one of them: {cha' tupmey ret}, {cha' tupmey pIq}.) The words {ret} and {pIq} could also be used with days, months, and years (e.g., {wej jaj ret} "three days ago", rather than {wejHu'}, but utterances of these are not particularly common, sound a bit archaic, and are usually restricted to rather formal settings. 
   With longer time periods, such as a century ({vatlh DIS poH}), millennium ({SaD DIS poH}), or a period of 10,000 years (myriad, perhaps) ({netlh DIS poH}), the words {ret} or {pIq} may be used in place of {poH}, e.g., {cha' vatlh DIS poH} "two centuries", but {cha' vatlh DIS ret} "two centuries ago". The phrase {cha' vatlh ben} would mean "200 years ago". The choice of construction depends on what is being emphasized: in this case, the total number of centuries (two) or the total number of years (200). 


AFAIK neither {ret} nor {pIq} have been used in canon, other than the above HolQeD article in which they were introduced.


PUN:
cf. Rhett Butler from "Gone With the Wind"?


Related nouns:

ben 		years ago, years old
nem 		years from now
pIq 		period of time from now
poH		period of time


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons