# Welsh govt. answers UFO query in Klingon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152 "2015-07-14T16:46:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/1 "2015-07-14T16:46:47Z")
Oh, those Trek-savvy jokers in Cardiff: [http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/14/world/feat-klingon-wales-ufo-response/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/14/world/feat-klingon-wales-ufo-response/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/2 "2015-07-14T16:49:02Z")
How knowledgeable were the folks at CNN who reported this? Did they know Klingon? Maybe they were actually replying in Welsh. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/3 "2015-07-14T16:50:25Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > How knowledgeable were the folks at CNN who reported this? > > Did they know Klingon? > **Maybe they were actually replying in Welsh.** Damn. You beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/4 "2015-07-14T16:52:49Z")
“In a late-breaking development, Wales appears to have been removed from Great Britain. Oceanfront property in Hereford and Shrewsbury is provoking enormous bidding wars… and here’s Tim Morton with the Business report.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/5 "2015-07-14T18:04:51Z")
Klingon **is** Welsh! Duh! What, you think anyone in the world, even in SF fringefandom, would be nerdy-crazy-stupid enough to invent a whole artificial language for a fictional culture?! ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/6 "2015-07-14T18:38:27Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Maybe they were actually replying in Welsh. If you’ve ever been out on a Saturday night in Cardiff you’ll know it’s difficult to tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/7 "2015-07-14T18:48:40Z")
I, for one, find it interesting that Klingon doesn’t have words for “due” or “devolved”. I guess the Qo’Nosian parliament was never very big on due process. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/8 "2015-07-14T18:53:36Z")
What’s the Klingon for “daffodil”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/9 "2015-07-15T03:41:14Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > What’s the Klingon for “daffodil”? :dubious: “Human.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/10 "2015-07-15T03:43:51Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > What’s the Klingon for “daffodil”? :dubious: Same as “tribble,” which is to say, same as “fur-booger.” And it’s the same in Welsh. (Wales was infested by tribbles, aka Englishmen, in 1214.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/11 "2015-07-15T04:02:10Z")
I think I remember a _Doctor Who_ episode about that… ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/12 "2015-07-15T04:08:58Z")
Klingon is actually more comprehensible than Welsh. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/13 "2015-07-15T15:49:27Z")
Klingon and Welsh aren’t the same. Klingon has vowels. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/14 "2015-07-16T00:36:44Z")
I thought Klingon was based on Hungarian? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/15 "2015-07-16T22:53:53Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Klingon **is** Welsh! Duh! What, you think anyone in the world, even in SF fringefandom, would be nerdy-crazy-stupid enough to invent a whole artificial language for a fictional culture?! Well at least they didn’t use Quenya. That would have been inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/16 "2015-07-16T23:04:35Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > “Human.” “Pansy” = “Human.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/17 "2015-07-17T02:04:50Z")
My favorite Klingon in-joke is actually: “Das” = “boot” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/18 "2015-07-17T03:11:23Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > My favorite Klingon in-joke is actually: > > “Das” = “boot” You realize, of course, that nouns are capitalized in German? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/19 "2015-07-17T09:08:34Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Well at least they didn’t use Quenya. That would have been inappropriate. Quite. \*Sindarin \*is much closer to Welsh. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152/20 "2015-07-18T04:22:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You realize, of course, that nouns are capitalized in German? :dubious: Thanks. I was quoting from the Okrand dictionary by memory. He explained the joke. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-govt-answers-ufo-query-in-klingon/725152.md?page=2)