# Are there trekkies that are conversationaly fluent in Klingon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764 "2010-09-23T13:25:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/41 "2013-05-30T21:52:24Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > It would probably be a death threat. > > “Foul my grass no more, lest ye wish to be fed your own intestines.” Cool. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/42 "2013-05-30T22:01:11Z")
With blood wine, no doubt ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/43 "2013-05-30T22:10:55Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > NPR had a bit this morning that the Washington Shakespear Company is presenting various scenes from many of Shakespear’s works in Klingon. You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/44 "2013-05-30T22:26:09Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon. Hoist with his own bat’lith! ---
**Author:** ![Melkor28](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Melkor28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melkor28)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/45 "2013-05-31T00:00:57Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I thought Elvish from LOTR was considered a “complete language.” I often hear it cited next to Klingon as “languages people who have too much time on their hands are roughly fluent in.” Is this not correct? I thought I read somewhere Tolkien constructed 4 complete elvish languages. Wikipedia doesn’t say how may where complete, but this is still a fascinating read. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages\_constructed\_by\_J.\_R.\_R.\_Tolkien](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_constructed_by_J._R._R._Tolkien) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/46 "2013-05-31T00:14:59Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > When I googled “foreign translations Jabberwocky” and [this](http://everything2.com/title/Jabberwocky+Translations) came up (Kligon and atranalation), I was flabbergasted. Jabberwocky is small potatoes. Not only has _all_ of Hamlet been translated into Klingon, but an attempt was once made to translate the entire Bible into Klingon. The project suffered a schism, though, when some of the translators wanted to stay word-for-word accurate to the original while others wanted the translation to be targeted at mainstream Klingon culture (which has no need for concepts like “mercy”). ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/47 "2013-05-31T01:18:18Z")
Sorry Ladies and Gentlemen, I must post in this thread. I do not speak Klingon but I know for a fact that it is a spoken language. Work an Anime, Comic, Sci Fi, etc Convention and you are likely to hear it. It is better than Furries but not by much ::sigh:: **Capt** ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/48 "2013-05-31T02:14:19Z")
Okay then, how many people are fluent, or even slightly conversant in Vulcan? Why such interest in Klingon, but I never hear of anyone talking Vulcan? Surely the mere fact that it’s mostly humanly unpronounceable is only a minor challenge, yes? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/49 "2013-05-31T02:27:22Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Okay then, how many people are fluent, or even slightly conversant in Vulcan? > > Why such interest in Klingon, but I never hear of anyone talking Vulcan? Surely the mere fact that it’s mostly humanly unpronounceable is only a minor challenge, yes? Humor…It is a difficult concept. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/50 "2013-05-31T02:34:12Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Humor…It is a difficult concept. Which is why we need Joe Piscapo to be on Trek. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/51 "2013-05-31T18:23:10Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Okay then, how many people are fluent, or even slightly conversant in Vulcan? > > Why such interest in Klingon, but I never hear of anyone talking Vulcan? Surely the mere fact that it’s mostly humanly unpronounceable is only a minor challenge, yes? Because Michael Okuda never published a Vulcan dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/52 "2013-05-31T18:45:47Z")
Of course, the problem with Shakespeare in Klingon is so few Kingons can easily understand medieval Klingon… it’s almost a foreign language to them. Renaissance Klingon is only slightly easier. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/53 "2013-05-31T21:28:57Z")
Krep’Lach! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/54 "2013-05-31T22:05:30Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Okay then, how many people are fluent, or even slightly conversant in Vulcan? > > Why such interest in Klingon, but I never hear of anyone talking Vulcan? Surely the mere fact that it’s mostly humanly unpronounceable is only a minor challenge, yes? I remember Spock telling his blonde not-quite-ex that she wouldn’t be able to pronounce his first name, but that doesn’t mean Vulcan was unpronounceable to humans. It could mean that its phonemes were so unlike those of English that virtually no non-linguists would be able to master them if they hadn’t grown up hearing them. Was it ever stated that no humans could pronounce Vulcan? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/55 "2013-05-31T23:20:12Z")
Obviously, the human actress that played T’Pau in _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ was able to pronounce Vulcan. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/56 "2013-06-01T02:30:30Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > Obviously, the human actress that played T’Pau in _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ was able to pronounce Vulcan. Yeah, but someone had to put her fingers in the [Levite Blessing](http://jhkelly.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/day-72-the-priestly-blessing/). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dlyongemallo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@dlyongemallo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlyongemallo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764/57 "2013-06-02T13:02:43Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > The closest I can get is: SoH puqpu’ pol lItha’ vo’ wIj [lawn] > > Apparently, the word ‘lawn’ doesn’t exist in the lexicon… yet. You seem to have used machine translation to generate the above. Unfortunately, there is no reliable English-to-Klingon translator, and the ones that exist mostly just do a word for word substitution for English. Klingon has its own grammar which is very different from that of English, so the above doesn’t make any sense. For “get off my lawn”, I’d say {yotlhHomwIj yIlItHa’}. There is no single word for “lawn”, but you can use {yotlh} “field” with {-Hom} (diminutive suffix) to express the idea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-trekkies-that-are-conversationaly-fluent-in-klingon/554764.md?page=2)