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

[Felix Malmenbeck]

ghItlhta' Voragh,
> AFAIK never used in canon.  Does it - or any other curse for that matter - appear in the {paq'batlh}?

petaQ is used a fair bit, as one might expect.

It contains this footnote (which I believe was written by Schönefeld, not Okrand):
P’takh (petaQ) is a Klingon insult, meaning something like “weirdo,” deriving from the verb “to be weird” (taQ), with and you (plural) imperative prefix (pe-). Alternative romanizations include pahtak, p’tak, patahk, and pahtk.

Interestingly, the text contains the line <nItlhejbogh petaQmey tInuD> ("Look att hese p'takhs at your side"), shouted by Molor at Kahless; not sure if the <-mey> was intentional to add insult to, well, insult.
[It also contains the phrase <nuqDaq ghaH petaQ'e'> ("Where is the p'takh [...]"), with <ghaH> rather than <'oH>.]

Molor also tell Kahless <petaQ'a' SoH>, which is translated as "You dirty p'takh,". So, apparently <petaQ'a'> is a thing.


Another curse:

tuHbe' tlhInganvam jay'
--"Curse this Klingon, who has no shame!"
(paq'raD, Canto 5; page 109)


________________________________________
From: Steven Boozer [sboozer at uchicago.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 16:51
To: tlhingan-hol at kli.org
Subject: Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: Qu'vatlh

> 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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