Klingon phrase used on Voyager

[jgdst]

Hi everyone.

I'm hoping you can help me with this as I'm not having much luck. I'm sure there was an episode of Voyager, where Torres is sat on the couch in the Mess Hall with someone older and she's talking about her relationship with Tom. This other lady uses a Klingon phrase (beginning with M, I think) that means something like "mis-match", however, I can't find a reference to it anywhere.

I haven't got the episode to hand, but I was fairly sure it was season 7's Prophecy. I've read a transcript of that episode but can't find anything similar, so I might be wrong about the episode...

Does anyone remember this scene, or the phrase in particular, or have I made it up as part of a feverish dream?

 

[Hardin]

I remember the scene and if I'm not horribly mistaken it's from Drive. But she's talking to Neelix and it's she that uses the Klingon expression (mok'tah or something like it).

Tom has just cancelled their planned holodeck weekend for a race opportunity with the Delta Flyer. B'Elanna had been trading favors with half the ship to put together the holodeck time.

 

[jgdst]

I remember the scene and if I'm not horribly mistaken it's from Drive. But she's talking to Neelix and it's she that uses the Klingon expression (mok'tah or something like it).

Tom has just cancelled their planned holodeck weekend for a race opportunity with the Delta Flyer. B'Elanna had been trading favors with half the ship to put together the holodeck time.

THAT'S IT! Thank you kindly, 50 Cool Points heading your way! I don't think I've watched season 7 since it first aired, no wonder I got the wrong episode.

Hmm... let's ignore the part where I've implied Neelix is an old woman

 

[Hardin]

you're very welcome And I could see Neelix as this oldish, good-natured and slightly eccentric aunt who tries to make everyone feel better by stuffing them with questionable food

 

[HIj'Qa]

B'Elanna says it is a Klingon phrase her grandmother used to use – Mok’tah, it means bad match.

 

[Odon]

Mok’tah, it means bad match.

As in "instrument for lighting fires (TAH) that has become wet (MOK)".

So it appears B'Elanna's use of this phrase implies Tom doesn't light her fire any more. Probably the best Federation Standard equivilent would be "limp dick".

 

[jgdst]

Ohhh ho hoooo my friends, great work! Thanks very much

It wouldn't be much of a Trek board if there were no Klingon speakers

 

[Odon]

Mok’tah, it means bad match.

As in "instrument for lighting fires (TAH) that has become wet (MOK)".

Ahh...I'm actually joking about that. Please don't quote me.

 

[jgdst]

Mok’tah, it means bad match.

As in "instrument for lighting fires (TAH) that has become wet (MOK)".

Ahh...I'm actually joking about that. Please don't quote me.

Awww! I've already quoted it to end a discussion... I'm so naive it makes my head blue and my smile all upside-downy Damn it all! Hmm... I just won't tell anyone.

I also recently learned they took gullible out of the dictionary

 

[Quagmire58]

I also recently learned they took gullible out of the dictionary

No they didn't it is right there on page.......wait a minute. JONGREDIC!

 

[Jeri]

Gawd, this is hilarious! But somebody must have a Klingon dictionary...

 

[Lucy of Nine]

Mok’tah, it means bad match.

Probably the best Federation Standard equivilent would be "limp dick".

 

[Ezri II]

Klingon phaser !!!!

I know of no Klingon phaser has ever been called a phaser.

 

[Timo]

I found an online source that calls itself "the Klingon Dictonary".

Aaanyway, supposedly words or syllables sounding like "mok" are real MarcOkrandSpeak for "to beat, to hit" or for "fist, pommel", so that part makes sense in the context: a good hit vs. a bad one.

Whatever the "tah" part could come from remains unclear in Okrand terms. It might refer to the verb "taH" for surviving, continuing, enduring - or for taking a nose dive. Or to "tagh" for initiating, starting, launching. A "hit-(and-miss-)continuance"? A "hit that makes you dive"? A "fist-started thing" (although that would probably mean a successful relationship in Klingon terms!).

Certainly the word doesn't yield to an easy translation by Okrand terms unless we're getting a confusing pronunciation. So it could either be a dedicated word or idiom that specifically refers to mismatches without consisting of the parts "match" and its negation - or a colloquial or dialect expression. (Read: it's something the writer dreamed out of thin air.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Jeri]

Thanks, Timo. Also, since the definition seems problematic, maybe the tape needs checking, as they say. We might have the phrase incorrectly.