# Did this conversation ever happen in the Star Trek universe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [February 26, 2024, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094 "2024-02-26T09:28:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/21 "2024-02-26T14:46:41Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Sahara means desert in Arabic Isn’t that true of a number of deserts? I believe that “Gobi,” “Kalahari,” and “Namib” also mean something like “empty region” or “vast place,” or similar things denoting emptiness. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/22 "2024-02-26T14:47:44Z")
Probably. I just pulled the long clues from last Wednesday’s NY Times puzzle. Uh, spoiler alert, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/23 "2024-02-26T15:09:42Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Sherman’s Planet was named for Holly Sherman, a friend and college girlfriend of the episode’s writer, [David Gerrold](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/David_Gerrold). He also, n one of his novels, had a story aside about a guy that homesteaded a planet in a trinary star system. He called the planet Noah because it had three sons. (it wasn’t much funnier in print…) > [@Babale](#): > > You said “Los Angeles” enough that now it feels weird You have to say ti like Bugs Bunny: Los (long O sound) Ang (hard G) a leeze ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/24 "2024-02-26T15:14:03Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I forget which episode, but Kirk informed some alien that our star is called “Sol,” which he pronounced as “soul.” Umm… I’m afraid to ask, but what _is_ the correct way to pronounce “Sol”? ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/25 "2024-02-26T15:26:52Z")
I would expect “sahl”, rhyming with “alcohol”. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/26 "2024-02-26T15:29:16Z")
Like “haul” or “ball” or “Saul”? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/27 "2024-02-26T15:53:33Z")
I agree with Kirk. Sole, soul. FWIW ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/28 "2024-02-26T16:03:13Z")
Dirt might turn out to be pretty valuable; elements like phosphorus might turn out to be the limiting factor for life. So it might turn out to be a humble brag. …were it not the case that pretty much every species is likely to name their home planet something like “soil”, “ground” or simply “home”. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/29 "2024-02-26T16:07:46Z")
The aliens never saw “Waterworld.” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/30 "2024-02-26T16:10:13Z")
Is Kirk the only Canadian born in Iowa? 😜 Have Scotty hand Kqwzytk a live wire. “There’s yer Earth, laddie!” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/31 "2024-02-26T16:37:59Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > only to have one of the locals condescendingly explain to him that, well, _“The name EARTH, which means soil or land, doesn’t really fit your world since three-fourths of it is ocean, like my world! We chose the more correct name of OCEANIA!”_ Well, oceanianians, which part is most important? Do you live in the water, or on land? Really, we should call our planet Air. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/32 "2024-02-26T16:48:48Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Well, Los Angeles _is_ the home of The The Tar Tar Pits. Before you go, you’d better stop at the ATM machine. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/33 "2024-02-26T16:53:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Terra, Sol, and Luna as names for the earth, sun, and moon are a pretty common sci-fi convention, yeah. Surely at least some nerds took Greek, though, which would make them Gaia, Helios, and Selene. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/34 "2024-02-26T16:53:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > The translator shouldn’t translate “Earth,” which is a proper noun, to whatever their word for “dirt” is, any more than a Chinese person named Liu would introduce themselves as “Mr. Battle Axe” in English. > > Anyway, Earth is more inventive than a lot of other planet names in the Trek universe. Looking at you, Vulcan, Romulus, and Andor. Wouldn’t a lot of alien planet names basically translate to “the world”? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/35 "2024-02-26T16:56:28Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > > > I forget which episode, but Kirk informed some alien that our star is called “Sol,” which he pronounced as “soul.” > > Umm… I’m afraid to ask, but what _is_ the correct way to pronounce “Sol”? The o is long: /soːl/ But just what _does_ the “universal translator” do when one speaks English and interjects words/phrases in Latin, French, or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/36 "2024-02-26T16:56:35Z")
Don’t forget your PIN number. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/37 "2024-02-26T17:00:37Z")
I thought “Vulcan” etc was the _Earthmen’s_ name for it. Why would some alien name its world after some Earth god or king? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/38 "2024-02-26T17:03:28Z")
It’s canon that the Vulcan language includes sounds that humans can’t reliably reproduce. Maybe accepting “Vulcan” as the human mispronunciation is a courtesy. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/39 "2024-02-26T17:27:58Z")
Well, it’s not Star Trek, but in an old comedic sci-fi novel favorite of mine, [Illegal Aliens](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/784113), they mock Earthlings for it, and of course, when they use their version of the Universal Translator, the planet’s name always comes out (to English-speaking humans) as “Dirt”, and the people are “Dirtlings”. For fair use purposes, I’ll quote a VERY small sample about their direct comments as to the naming conventions of species though: > “They still call their planet Dirt!” Boztwank raged. “How stinking primative can you get?” > > … > > Idow took the the opportunity to continue. “Every race calls its home planet Dirt in the beginning, Boztwank,” he explained patiently. “You know that.” > > “But they’ve had over 4000 solar revolutions in which to change it! What in the Void are they waiting for? The Prime Builder to name it for them?” (elipse represents minor editing to avoid some details about the characters) It then goes on with another character pointing out that _some_ people call it Terra instead, and that in fact, Terra means Earth, and that earth translates to dirt when all is said and done. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094/40 "2024-02-26T17:28:41Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I thought “Vulcan” etc was the _Earthmen’s_ name for it. Why would some alien name its world after some Earth god or king? It is. Vulcans call their planet T’Khasi, Minshara or Ti-Valka’ain, depending on who you ask. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-this-conversation-ever-happen-in-the-star-trek-universe/998094.md?page=3)