The Vulcan game

[Kotik]

Okay, you can't just toss that out there and not give an example.

Attention, not for minors

SPOILER!!!:

Upon multiple wish of a single Forum member, today's lesson in Russian cussing.

Let's begin with a russian general insult, which is Yob tvoyoo mat' which means 'I fucked your mother'. It's also used in the sense of '**** it!'.

In the same category, we have yobanniy v rot which literally mean 'he who's been fucked in the mouth' - probably 'cocksucker' would be a good approximation.

Then there's a plethora of variations of the word khui which means 'dick' (in the vulgar sense), like pokhui (can't be arsed), nikhuiya (nothing), poshel tiy nakhui (**** off)

The hardest stuff i've heard over there, however, was this : Gde ukrainez shel, dazhe Yevrey nikhuiya ne bolshe naidet. - that means 'Where a ucrainian has walked, even the jew can't find anything of value anymore.'

I'm off to wash of the sin from my hands ...

[WarpGirl]

You wanna hear something ironic when I said T'Pol doesn't think in English I was thinking of a very famous Russian who used those exact words. I'm sure almost everyone knows of Ekaterina Gordeeva, Olympic pairs figure skating champion, and IMO a pretty dang good singles because I saw her live in Stars On Ice. Well in her book My Sergie, she describes the birth of her daughter Daria, and when she had to sign the papers for an epideral, here's a quote... "It is written of course in English and I am not thinking in English." Like I said severe distress can do it and hearing Trip is dead all of the time is distressing. Even now to me!

PS Kotik I wish it was practical for you to teach me Russian, I know a little but I could never finish the lessons. And no I did not read the cursing, because I tyr very hard not to curse. You know I think you are a mersavetz, don't kill me if it's wrong but it's supposed to be the Russian word for evil one or terror. I learned reading about the Romanovs. Appearently it was the nickname of one of the daughters pets. And I mean it in a loving way.

[Kotik]

PS Kotik I wish it was practical for you to teach me Russian, I know a little but I could never finish the lessons. And no I did not read the cursing, because I tyr very hard not to curse. You know I think you are a mersavetz, don't kill me if it's wrong but it's supposed to be the Russian word for evil one or terror. I learned reading about the Romanovs. Appearently it was the nickname of one of the daughters pets. And I mean it in a loving way.

Да, ладно, не читала. Наверное и лучше. То, что писал, только (плохой) образец.

Riddle me that Batman...

[WarpGirl]

OK I was right you are evil! I can't read it in Cyrllic!

[Kotik]

No, I'm not evil. The devil fears me. When I look into the fridge, the ice cubes get frost bite

*madevillaugh*

[WarpGirl]

And that is why I like you.

[Alelou]

In the books Eight Cousins, and Rose In Bloom Alcott uses Scottish! Now an 11 year old who has no Scottish relatives living, and has no knowledge of the language won't get it. But it added to the story.

I'm sure it added some color, but I doubt it was anything that would stall out a reader. Saying "wee bairn" instead of "little child" or "canny lass" instead of "clever girl" is probably going to be clear enough in context, and adding "Och" to the beginning of sentences is hardly going to confuse anybody. This is perhaps especially true since there is Scots, a dialect of English, and there is Gaelic, which is still spoken by many especially in rural areas of Scotland and Ireland, but there is no separate Scottish language.

IMO Vulcan should be used in small doses for color, or in a way that's crystal clear from the context. The exception would be when a writer uses it to make a point that, say, Trip has actually taken the time to learn his Vulcan. Ragua does this beautifully in "Miscommunication." She makes the meaning clear so that you don't have to go looking for the glossary, and she uses Vulcan in a way that actually drives the plot.

Obviously your mileage may vary. Just don't expect all readers to necessarily keep reading if they come across a sentence in Vulcan and it takes them out of the story long enough for them to consider whether they really want to bother with either looking it up or moving on anyway without knowing what the hell it meant.

[WarpGirl]

Well of course if anyone doesn't like a story than by all means they should stop reading it. But I think it's a littl unfair for somebody who likes a story to go "Oh no, Vulcan, Klingon, Romulan, Betazoid, Bajoran," or whatever the language is and stop reading without giving the author a chance to build on it.

[panyasan]

In a way, a writer should provide a less obstacles for a reader to continue. Weird spacing by some reason, too much italic, white boxes (or even a chapter that's too long - I am still working on that one ) and too much foreign language makes it harder for a reader to continue reading. I use Vulcan language in my fic -short words mostly - and when I do, I hope the reader will guess the meaning by the context or by the explanation I give in the next sentence and I always have a list of Meaning of Vulcan words at the end.

[WarpGirl]

So what do you think of lunikkh ta'vik?

[panyasan]

So what do you think of lunikkh ta'vik?

I like the meaning, fits well. Most of these kind of words are mostly shortened. It rolls better out of your mouth if you have a three-four-five-letter words instead of a sentence. So "Lunik!" may work.

[WarpGirl]

I'm glad I worked hard to look it up. But if you don't use it that's cool. I'll read ANYTHING you write anyway.

[panyasan]

I'm glad I worked hard to look it up.

Thank you, WarpGirl, that's really nice of you.

[WarpGirl]

It's nothing more than the truth dear.

[Distracted]

PS Kotik I wish it was practical for you to teach me Russian, I know a little but I could never finish the lessons. And no I did not read the cursing, because I tyr very hard not to curse. You know I think you are a mersavetz, don't kill me if it's wrong but it's supposed to be the Russian word for evil one or terror. I learned reading about the Romanovs. Appearently it was the nickname of one of the daughters pets. And I mean it in a loving way.

Да, ладно, не читала. Наверное и лучше. То, что писал, только (плохой) образец.

Riddle me that Batman...

Okay.... I got this translation online: "Yes, all right, did not read. Probably and better. That wrote, only (bad) sample."

Must've lost something in translation.