Do you know any more Klingon proverbs?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by xvicente, May 15, 2013.

  1. xvicente

    xvicente Captain Captain

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    1-Revenge is a dish that is best served cold
    2-?
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Which is not really a Klingon proverb, but is from various Earth sources, notably Les Liaisons Dangereuses. I've never taken Khan's line about it too seriously -- after all, when did he get the chance to learn anything about Klingons?

    Another Earth saying that was actually portrayed as a Klingon saying was "Today is a good day to die" -- which has long been attributed to Crazy Horse, but Wikipedia says it's an English bastardization of a Sioux battle cry meaning "I am ready for whatever comes." (The 2006 BBC Robin Hood TV series made it Little John's catchphrase, predating Crazy Horse by about seven centuries.)

    A couple of lines from "Day of the Dove" -- "Four thousand throats can be slit in one night by a running man" and "Only a fool fights in a burning house" -- have been alleged to be Klingon proverbs by later works of tie-in fiction, but I don't buy that in the first case. That line was spoken in response to the line "We are forty against four hundred," so the fact that the speaker used the specific number four thousand suggests to me that he was making it up on the spot, or maybe paraphrasing a saying with a less specific number.
     
  3. Bry_Sinclair

    Bry_Sinclair Vice Admiral Admiral

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    2 - Today is a good day to die.
     
  4. T J

    T J Commodore Commodore

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    3. Fire!

    They say it a lot!
     
  5. Retu

    Retu Commander Red Shirt

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    4. Only a fool fights in a burning house.
     
  6. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yp, the very first one... And that appears to be that, unless one counts the novels. Or opts to treat some of Kor's utterances as proverbs because, you know, anything a wise old man says must be zen. Especially if it includes a lot of belching.

    Then again, so is everything else about Klingons. Or Star Trek in general. Hell, "Live long and prosper!" is an authentic Finnish greeting well preceding TOS... And no doubt an authentic greeting in about two thousand other human cultures past and present as well.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  7. SchwEnt

    SchwEnt Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Not really a proverb, and not really canon.
    But the John Ford Klingons had this...

    … And though I had slain a thousand foes less one,
    The thousandth knife had found my liver;
    The thousandth enemy said to me

    "Now you shall die, and none shall know."

    And the fool looking down believed this,
    Not seeing, above his shoulder,
    the naked stars,

    Each one remembering.
     
  8. TiberiusMaximus

    TiberiusMaximus Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Always eat your gagh before it dies.

    Never count your targs before they fight.
     
  9. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

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    "Don't catch any bugs!" :D
     
  10. Ryva Brall

    Ryva Brall Commander Red Shirt

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  11. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    "Don't make me kick your ass."
     
  12. Captain Rob

    Captain Rob Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    When courting a Klingon woman. Always remember to duck. And know a good doctor.
     
  13. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man.
     
  14. Tiberius

    Tiberius Commodore Commodore

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    On the Enterprise before Kirk banished him?

    In my novelization of "The Best of Both Worlds," I gave Worf a line, "Kahless himself said that a clear mind is the greatest ally a warrior has."
     
  15. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, didn't Khan spend some quality alone-time with the ship's library? I seem to recall a line or two about that.
     
  16. Darvin

    Darvin Cadet Newbie

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    Not really a proverb but one of my favorite Klingon lines....

    "If Klingon food is too strong for you, perhaps we can get one of the females to breast-feed you." - Klag
    "They are inquisitive. They wonder how you would endure."
    "Endure what?"
    "Them."
    . . .
    "One, or both?"
    - Riker
     
  17. The Badger

    The Badger Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    He also spent some quality time alone with the ship's historian. At least, until the planet he was on got screwed.
     
  18. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

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    Awwwwwww yeah. :D
     
  19. xvicente

    xvicente Captain Captain

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    and he spent his time with a classic Star Trek Babe® :drool: discussing klingon proverbs? "superior intelligence", come on!