Alien Phrases And Their Meanings...

[Farscape One]

I do not know if anyone has ever brought this up, nor am I certain which section of the site I should post this in. But since this can cover every series, I figure this is the right place.

I was telling my wife some good news about 10 minutes ago, and after a couple of 'hoorays' from us both, I ended with, "See, babe, good news wears no clothes." She was confused by that for a moment, and then I reminded her that according to Neelix, that is an old Talaxian phrase.

After explaining its meaning, we chatted and wondered what other alien phrases exist that give wonderful insight. I jokingly said 'maybe I should start a thread'. Her eyes lit up and said, "Great idea!"

So because she is a smart woman, I have decided to take her advice and start this thread on alien phrases and what they mean.

It can be a general meaning, what they mean to you... whatever. No limits! I'll start with the Talaxian phrase "Good news wears no clothes."

When you have to deliver bad news to someone, you're more often than not going to want to sugarcoat it a bit... in other words, give it some clothes. But when you deliver good news to someone, you're almost always going to give it as is... in other words, naked with no clothes. Whether it's a promotion, a perfect test score, a wanted pregnancy, a medical exam where you are perfectly fine, a sudden influx of money, etc... you almost never want to hold back on the good news.


So how about the rest of you? What Klingon, Romulan, Vulcan, Talaxian, etc. phrases do you like or feel have deeper meaning?

Temba, his arms open.

 

[Timofnine]

Jolan tru, because the meaning of this greeting proves that the Romulans only ever wanted peace, really.

 

[antinoos]

My signature!

A Kelpien adage

I'm trying to think of something similar in english...

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Hear all, trust nothing.

 

[Timofnine]

The truth is out there…

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Great Vulcan saying: Only Nixon can go to China.

 

[Timofnine]

Great Vulcan saying: Only Nixon can go to China.

Oh, well… if you want to stoop to that level…
“To be! Or not not be!? That is the question. For you have not experienced Shakespeare until you have heard it in original Klingon!

 

[Farscape One]

Going to go with a Klingon one now.

"4,000 throats may be cut in one night by a running man."

A very Klingon way of saying one person can make a big difference.

 

[NCC-73515]

I've tried to tell people The River Temarc in Winter, but it had no effect, so I went all Mirab with Sails Unfurled.

 

[Farscape One]

I've tried to tell people The River Temarc in Winter, but it had no effect, so I went all Mirab with Sails Unfurled.

People...

Shaka, when the walls fell.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Going to go with a Klingon one now.

"4,000 throats may be cut in one night by a running man."

A very Klingon way of saying one person can make a big difference.

Or that as long as you keep moving, you can accomplish a lot.

 

[Farscape One]

Or that as long as you keep moving, you can accomplish a lot.

Now THAT is a great interpretation.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

• According to Elim Garak, in a Dominion simulation, "There's an old saying on Cardassia. 'Enemies make dangerous friends.' And I fear the Dominion will make a very dangerous friend indeed." (DS9: "The Search, Part II")

I suppose the reverse also holds true - someone who knows you has an advantage that others don't, and those who have a history with you have a more compelling motive to betray you than someone who just met you's compulsion to hurt you.

 

[Christopher]

Going to go with a Klingon one now.

"4,000 throats may be cut in one night by a running man."

A very Klingon way of saying one person can make a big difference.

I never liked the way the tie-ins interpreted that as an old Klingon saying. In context, the character is saying it in response to Mara's "We are forty against four hundred," so I think it was meant to be an extemporaneous response to that specific line. It's an implausible coincidence that there just happened to be a Klingon saying specifying four thousand throats. At most, maybe the original saying was "A thousand" or "Five thousand" and the officer modified it to fit the context.

I feel the same about "Only a fool fights in a burning house" from the same episode. I always figured Kang coined that on the spot, but people keep treating it like a common Klingon saying. Why can't the characters themselves be allowed to be clever and coin their own memorable phrases?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Why can't the characters themselves be allowed to be clever and coin their own memorable phrases?

I suppose it could be his particular twist on a bit of ancient wisdom.

 

[mike hill]

From the (yes I know - not canon!) amazing Final Reflection novel by John M Ford:-

Kahless Hand - determination (in his final battle Kahess tied his hand to his control chair as a sign that he would fight to the death)
Keths Years - a long time (Keth was the longest lived emperor)
Kaggas crown - a pyrrhic victory (Kagga ascended to emperor, but also broke tradition by assassinating the prior emperor. As such he sat on the throne for a day, with his crown tattooed onto his skull, and was then executed)
And, lastly a proverb-
Yet if my line should die,
It dies with its teeth in the enemy's throat,
It dies with its name on the enemy's tongue.
For just as mere life is not victory,
Mere death is not defeat;
And in the next world I shall kill the foe a thousand times,
Laughing,
Undefeated

 

[FredH]

From Vulcan philosophy: Nothing unreal exists.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I suppose that follows from IDIC. That is, if you truly believe that there is "infinite diversity in infinite combinations", nothing you encounter or imagine should seem imaginary or non-existent, as "infinite" implies the certain existence of anything and everything.

 

[Christopher]

I suppose that follows from IDIC. That is, if you truly believe that there is "infinite diversity in infinite combinations", nothing you encounter or imagine should seem imaginary or non-existent, as "infinite" implies the certain existence of anything and everything.

That's overthinking it. It's just stating the obvious: by definition, real things exist, and unreal things don't. It's the First Law of Metaphysics, so it's nothing complicated, it's merely the simplest starting axiom, establishing the first principle: Only real things exist. The more complicated ideas would be expressed in the later Laws of Metaphysics.

It's like how Decartes started with "I think, therefore I am." He stripped away all preconceptions and assumptions and started with the most basic provable idea: If I think, then there must be an "I" to do the thinking, therefore the fact that I think proves that I exist. With that established, I can build from that and attempt to reason out what else exists besides myself.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Overthinking in philosophy? I didn't know that was possible.