Archive of Okrandian Canon
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From: "Marc Okrand" <MarcOkrand@msn.com>
Newsgroups: msn.onstage.startrek.expert.okrand
Date: 13 Jul 1997
Subject: Re: Expensive word
I hope this word isn't overly expensive (that is, I hope nobody has anything riding on my answer), but here's the deal.
{wagh} is "be expensive."
{waH} means "try out, use (experimentally)" and it is also the word used for "taste" in the sense of trying out food to see if it's prepared properly or to find out if you like it. Another verb, {mum}, means "taste" in the sense of "perceive flavor(s)." Thus, the English sentence "I taste the gagh" (if "gagh" can be properly used in an English sentence) may be translated into Klingon in two ways:
qagh vImum "I perceive the gagh's flavor" (qagh "gagh," vImum "I taste it")
qagh vIwaH "I try out the gagh [to see how it tastes]" (vIwaH "I taste it")
(If you're not a Klingon but plan on tasting gagh, by the way, I suggest you find a good restaurant and stick to {qagh wagh} "expensive gagh.")