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

[Robyn Stewart]

I thought Hutvagh was communicated back to Lawrence after qep'a'. I got a ride to New Jersey that year and yeah, it was bad. 

On 2012-09-11, at 7:51, Steven Boozer <sboozer at uchicago.edu> wrote:

>> 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
> 
> 
> 
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