[1999] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: <>vetlh
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sat Nov 13 13:45:37 1993
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@klingon.East.Sun.COM>
From: Captain Krankor <krankor@codex.prds.cdx.mot.com>
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@klingon.East.Sun.COM>
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 11:08:30 -0700
>>I think the main confusion here is simply the slightly obscure reference. I
>>know the song in question, but I'm not sure I would've gotten the joke even
>>with the *English*, without an explanation.
>It's more that the humor depended on a particular, recognizable quote (as
>did "Quoth the raven 'Eat my phasers'") which simply doesn't come across.
>The recognition hinges on the specific words ("quoth", "scrape off") or
>sentence structure, and the words in question are in *English*, so they get
>lost completely. If there were some well-known standard translation of
>them into Klingon (like the KJV is a well-known translation of the Bible
>into English), it would word (as "Honor thy father and thy guinea pig"
>could conceivably be funny, since it recalls the well-known translated
>phrase, but without the recognition, it's just puzzling).
jIQochtaH. Like I said, if I had been told the joke originally in English,
*with* the "scrape off", I still doubt I would've gotten it until it was
explained. Though I agree about "quoth".
--Krankor
