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idiom

tlhIngan Hol: bIQ'a'Daq 'oHtaH 'etlh'e'

English: the sword is in the ocean - there is no going back

Source: KGT

Information

{bIQ'a'Daq 'oHtaH 'etlh'e'.} ("The sword is in the ocean.")

This is another expression based on a story about Kahless. After Kahless's brother, Morath, killed their father, Morath threw their father's sword into the ocean, saying that if he could not have the sword, no one could.

After that, the brothers never spoke again. The idiom {bIQ'a'Daq 'oHtaH 'etlh'e'} ("The sword is in the ocean"; {bIQ'a',} "ocean"; {'etlh,} "sword") is used to mean that something has ended, that it is impossible to return to a prior condition, just as Kahless and Morath never spoke to each other again. The expression might be used, for example, in reference to a treaty that was just signed, suggesting that a former state of antagonism has ended forever. Of course, simply saying that something will last forever does not make it so. If an alliance ends, the phrase is equally apt: the era of peace has ended, and the sword is in the ocean---there is no going back.

Words in this entry
pIqaD
tlhIngan Hol
Type
English
biq bIQ Noun water
-zaz -'a' Noun Suffix Type 1 augmentative
-zaz -'a' Verb Suffix Type 9 interrogative
-dak -Daq Noun Suffix Type 5 locative (to, in, at, on)
biqzaz bIQ'a' Noun ocean, sea
zoh 'oH Pronoun it
-tah -taH Verb Suffix Type 7 continuous (aspect marker)
zex 'etlh Noun sword, blade
-zez -'e' Noun Suffix Type 5 topic

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