[97838] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: Say'qu'moH
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steven Boozer)
Tue Jan 14 10:41:01 2014
From: Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu>
To: "tlhingan-hol@kli.org" <tlhingan-hol@kli.org>
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2014 15:40:28 +0000
In-Reply-To: <cedf1214ed9afefbd71fbfa32f6992e5@localhost.localdomain>
Errors-To: tlhingan-hol-bounces@kli.org
> Klingon Word of the Day for Tuesday, January 14, 2014
>
> Klingon word: Say'qu'moH
> Part of speech: verb
> Definition: sterilize
> Source: HQ:v1n3p9
"make very clean"! IIRC the context was WRT medical and surgical devices. Note the (hopefully) metaphorical use of {Say'moHchu') in the Anthem:
yoHbogh matlhbogh je SuvwI' Say'moHchu' may' 'Iw
The blood of battle washes clean the warrior brave and true. (Anthem)
Klingons obviously have different standards of cleanliness than Federation weaklings! <g> Cf. also the common simile {puj; bIQ rur} "weak as water":
KGT 35: The Klingons equate water with weakness. Anything is better than water; the less waterlike, the better.
KGT 161: because of the Klingon association of water with weakness (as opposed to the strength of blood or ale, for that matter)
TKW 34f.: Just as blood is used figuratively to refer to power, water carries the opposite and negative connotation of lack of control. Strength cannot coexist with weakness within an individual or a successful society. The negative associations with water might also be seen when Worf remarked to Counselor Deanna Troi, "Swimming is too much like bathing."
KGT 91: The verb {HaH}... is now often used in the more general sense of "soak, drench". It is frequently heard in the reflexive form ({HaH'egh} "soak oneself") in reference to such activities as drinking a great deal, which has positive connotations, and bathing, an occasional undertaking with negative connotations.
Related vocabulary:
Say' be clean (v)
Say'moH wash (v)
Say'moHwI' tlhagh soap (n) TNK
watlh be pure (v)
lam be dirty (v)
Trek trivia:
The alien Tan Ru probe's original mission was to gather and sterilize soil samples as a prelude to colonization. By 2267 Nomad's new mission was to seek out and sterilize imperfect biological infestations (life forms). (TOS "The Changeling")
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
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