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

[Steven Boozer]

mayql qunenoS:
> 'oy''a'vam DayIn 'e' vIHarQo' 
> I don't believe that you're experiencing that much pain.

FYI there's a Klingon idiom with regard to pain using {SIQ} "endure, bear" which we've seen several times:

  'oy' DaSIQjaj 
  May you endure the pain! (PK)

  yIn DayajmeH 'oy' yISIQ. 
  To understand life, endure pain. (TKW p.43)

  yIn nI' yISIQ 'ej yIchep 
  Live long and prosper!  (RTm)
  [literally "endure a long life..."]

This is Okrand's translation of the famous Vulcan send-off.  Note that this is a Vulcan sentiment - for Klingon warriors a long life, per se, is not really the goal.  Dying gloriously in battle however is.  E.g.

  batlh potlh law' yIn potlh puS 
  Honor is more important than life. (TKW)

  nI'be' yInmaj 'ach wovqu' 
  Our lives burn short and bright. (Anthem)

KGT 107:  Among the common Klingon idioms are some phrases taken from mythology and literature. For example, the expression {Hoch jaghpu'Daj HoHpu'} ("He/she has killed all his/her enemies") is used to describe a person who is leading a meaningless, empty life, one lacking any challenge. It is derived from a line in the poem "{lu qeng}" ("The Fall of Kang"; literally, "Kang falls") by G'trok:  {Hoch jaghpu'Daj HoHbogh SuvwI' yIvup}, the classic Federation Standard translation of which is "Pity the warrior who slays all his foes."

Cf. also {taH} "endure, continue", {bech} "suffer" and {chergh} "tolerate".


--
Voragh
tlhIngan ghantoH pIn'a'
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons