# Which is better know: Klingon or Tribble? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936 "2015-03-13T22:01:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/1 "2015-03-13T22:01:57Z")
Long story short, my wife is not a Star Trek fan, but is an American who has lived in the world for a few decades. We watched Star Trek: Into Darkness on Netflix last night and she recognized Klingons from The Next Generation but had never heard of Tribbles. She knew “Damnit Jim, I’m a doctor, not a…” but didn’t recognize “Khaaaaannnn!” So hopefully that gives you some perspective on her familiarity w/ the canon. I found this surprising, thinking they’re at least at parity with being known by non-fans. Am I wrong? Are tribbles relatively unknown to the general public? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/2 "2015-03-13T22:03:37Z")
Klingons by far. People don’t dress up as tribbles and go to conventions. Klingons always show up as one of those 30 second spots at the end of the local news. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/3 "2015-03-13T22:06:20Z")
Maybe when tribbles come up with a language of their own they’ll get equal recognition. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/4 "2015-03-13T22:22:28Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Klingons by far. People don’t dress up as tribbles and go to conventions. Klingons always show up as one of those 30 second spots at the end of the local news. In 1983 I went to a convention in Kansas City. Each year they raised money for a local charity, that year they did it by holding “The Intergalactic Tribble Breeding Contest” Folks made their own versions of tribbles and they were placed on long tables with a jar in front of each one. You put money in the jar of the tribble(s) you liked best, with all the money going to charity. The winner would be whoever had the most money in their jar. I saw Siamese tribbles, two linked together. There was Isaac Asatribble, wearing a big pair of glasses. There was Mr.\*\* T\*\*ribble. He was brown and mostly bald, with one strip of hair in a Mohawk. His card said he usually won any contest he entered because the other contestants would drop out. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/5 "2015-03-13T22:45:47Z")
I have no idea what a Tribble is. I am familiar with a Klingon, though. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/6 "2015-03-13T22:46:31Z")
Tribbles only appeared in one episode of the original series, an episode which also featured Klingons. They were also in one episode of the animated series. Maybe a couple other appearances, but not a major part of the Star Trek universe. Klingons feature prominently in more than one of the movies, and one of the main characters of New Trek was a Klingon (Worf). > [@terentii](#): > > Maybe when tribbles come up with a language of their own they’ll get equal recognition. 😃 The thread title, “Which is better know: Klingon or Tribble?” made me think the thread was asking which language it was better for a person to know: Klingon or Tribble. (Which made me wonder, “Tribble” is a _language_?) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/7 "2015-03-13T22:55:04Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Tribbles only appeared in one episode of the original series, an episode which also featured Klingons. They were also in one episode of the animated series. Maybe a couple other appearances, but not a major part of the Star Trek universe. I think their only other appearance was the Deep Space 9 episode (“Trials and Tribble-ations”) that had the characters interacting with scenes from the original '60s episode. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/8 "2015-03-13T22:58:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I have no idea what a Tribble is. I am familiar with a Klingon, though. Cyrano Jones says a tribble is the only love you can buy! :o ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/9 "2015-03-13T23:09:55Z")
do they still sing songs of the great tribble hunt? perhaps if the klingons hadn’t killed all the tribbles… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/10 "2015-03-13T23:18:24Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Cyrano Jones says a tribble is the only love you can buy! :o He hasn’t been to Pahrump! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/11 "2015-03-14T00:21:32Z")
If nothing else, most people know Klingons from that awful Uranus joke. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/12 "2015-03-14T00:25:37Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Tribbles only appeared in one episode of the original series, an episode which also featured Klingons. They were also in one episode of the animated series. Maybe a couple other appearances, but not a major part of the Star Trek universe. > > Klingons feature prominently in more than one of the movies, and one of the main characters of New Trek was a Klingon (Worf). > > The thread title, “Which is better know: Klingon or Tribble?” made me think the thread was asking which language it was better for a person to know: Klingon or Tribble. (Which made me wonder, “Tribble” is a _language_?) I’m not even sure Tribbles were even mentioned in any episode where they weren’t shown. By contrast, Klingons were featured in many episodes of the original Star Trek, and talked about frequently in other episodes. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/13 "2015-03-14T00:27:01Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > do they still sing songs of the great tribble hunt? > > perhaps if the klingons hadn’t killed all the tribbles… The best thing Ben Sisko ever did was to undo the great tribble genocide. And Ben Sisko did a lot of good things, so that’s saying something. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/14 "2015-03-14T00:36:05Z")
Tribbles, like Ewoks, need to **DIE! DIE! DIE!** ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/15 "2015-03-14T01:25:37Z")
Thanks to the typo, I’m thinking the Letterman “Know Your Current Events” bit with your options of Know Your Current Events, Know Your Cuts of Meat, Know Your Klingon, or Know Your Tribble. I’d say Klingons are easily better known, but that tribbles are probably still better known than a lot of actual sentient species from the Star Trek universe. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/16 "2015-03-14T01:40:40Z")
I personally know tribbles better and even butchered a few mechanical toys making some. But I’m old and realize it. So I’m voting Klingons. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/17 "2015-03-14T01:57:04Z")
Klingons were in the movies. So, yeah, them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/18 "2015-03-14T02:19:56Z")
“There’s Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow/there’s Klingon’s on the starboard bow, starboard bow, Jim!” ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/19 "2015-03-14T19:26:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The thread title, “Which is better know: Klingon or Tribble?” made me think the thread was asking which language it was better for a person to know: Klingon or Tribble. (Which made me wonder, “Tribble” is a _language_?) Me too, I was thinking Klingon would get you some better conversations. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936/20 "2015-03-14T19:36:35Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Klingons by far. People don’t dress up as tribbles and go to conventions. Klingons always show up as one of those 30 second spots at the end of the local news. Objection! My wife dressed as a tribble and went to a convention … a few years ago … and her picture was taken and it ran in Newsweek Magazine. She had (and has) very nice legs. That said, not that many people dress as tribbles. Klingons are far better known, if only because knowing the Klingon language is the standard for out-there geekery. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-know-klingon-or-tribble/714936.md?page=2)