[Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: Qu'vatlh

[Steven Boozer]

> Klingon word:   Qu'vatlh
> Part of speech: excl
> Definition: 	    Klingon curse

AFAIK never used in canon.  Does it - or any other curse for that matter - appear in the {paq'batlh}?
 
CK:  This is something you might hear someone say in moments of extreme anger. Be concerned if you hear it.

TKD 178:  The invective {va} is actually just a shortened form of {Qu'vatlh}.

HQ 11.3:  Traffic along the interstate was particularly heavy, a topic which at some point entered into the conversation. Dr. Okrand reports that Maltz volunteered the Klingon term {Hutvagh}, a noun, meaning "too many people or things in a place all at once". Maltz further indicated that the term was used as word play, a substitution for the more common {Qu'vatlh} which might otherwise be heard in such situations.


Trek trivia:

When Picard failed to convince Governor Vagh that the Federation wasn't supplying  weapons to Kriosian rebels, Vagh shouted: "You speak the lies of a *tah-keck*!"  Picard calmly leaned forward and replied, "*Qu'vatlh guy'cha b'aka*!"  Vagh complimented him, saying: "You swear well, Picard. You must have Klingon blood in you." (TNG "The Mind's Eye")


Etymological speculation:

"{qu'vatlh}:  Klingon animal noted for stubbornness, much as the Earth mule is. ("Sons and Daughters" [DS9])" (ST:Encyclopedia [1977 ed.])

"{Qu'} is 'task', {vatlh} is 'hundred'. {Qu'vatlh}, a hundred tasks. Certainly a curse at having many things to accomplish and not enough resources to accomplish them. I personally use this one in my own job." (Kevin Geiselman)

"{Qu'} means quest or mission. {vatlh} means a hundred. So the origin of the word, centuries ago, could have been something about hundred missions. I would be really angry about so much work." (muHwI')


--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons