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Someone translated that kooky Klingon propaganda video
Two days ago we reported about a viral Klingon video that was creeping around the Web. Today it appears that the Klingons are on the move again. Though their ultimate objectives are uncertain, this new development makes clear some of their immediate intentions.
A new live-action video, posted by the same YouTube account user, "Tanastvar," shows a little girl watching the aforementioned viral video on TV while happily singing along as if she were watching Elmo on Sesame Street. At the end, the camera spins to reveal only the cameraman's goateed mouth. He growls an ominous, "It's working!"
But what exactly is this viral video trying to tell us?
The crew over at Trekmovie.com had fan Chris Lipscombe (a member of the Klingon Language Institute) do some translating for those of us who only took Klingon 101 in college and never learned more than "Where is the library?"
Although Chris goes back and forth with some of the grammar, below is what he calls a "liberal translation":
We are members of the Klingon Empire!We have argued with many dozen planets
and we expand to many more every day
Do you want to influence the planet?
But how?
Let's go, we are coming, join us!
Contribute to the enjoyment of Klingon planets
The Empire is good for everyone
The Civilization brings wealth, competitions and good food.
Our Klingon "yeni cheri" are brave, many and fair.
Take spoils from the invasions, and many solders join the Empire
The Empire powerfully protects the important planet from the influence and possible decaying that the dictator (brings ... does something with ....)
Put down your small weapons
Open your hearts
and join the Klingon Empire.
Get ready but conquer
Get justice now!
But that's not all. TrekMovie community member Artun Özsemerciyan connected the background music in the Klingon video as coming from a Turkish children's choir, specifically a song about birds. See the video below for the damning evidence.
It appears that the Klingons are trying to make human children sympathetic to the their cause. But to what end? Indoctrination? Perhaps to make future generations more easily manipulated?
Stay tuned, as we're positive this is not the last we've heard from them.
By MCP-001 at 10:56 AM ON 10/28/09
The fact that someone took the time to "translate" an online video is downright scary!
Happy Halloween.
By qurgh at 11:04 AM ON 10/28/09
It didn't take me very long, luckly they had subtitles on the tlhIngan.org page. I would never have been able to get it from the voice over alone.
By scififan at 11:42 AM ON 10/28/09
We shouldn't be surprised someone translated. We're living in a world where Top Universities in the world offer Klingon as a second language. Imagine putting that on your resume. I'm really sure IBM is really interested in hiring someone who knows how to speak Klingon.
By MCP-001 at 11:47 AM ON 10/28/09
Now, that's a scary thought!
I can see the HR person opening up their letter now.
Hi! I'm a certified MCSE, C++, proficient in PERL and Java.
Oh, and I can also speak Klingon.
By TomKo44 at 11:49 AM ON 10/28/09
Actually I wouldn't be surprised if Klingon ISN'T a requirement for a job with IBM! :)
But my question is.... what does a Viral Klingon video have to do with Halloween or Christianity?
Oh... Commander Bond... I think you meant no true Christian SHOULD celebrate it, not SHOULDN'T! Guess someone needs to proof their comments before clicking the submit button! :)
By tekkblade at 2:06 PM ON 10/28/09
I'm sure I'm coming late to this party, but this strikes me as "viral" marketing for the next Star Trek 12. Maybe the writers have settled on it being Federation vs Klingon Empire or someone with plenty of time on their hands is trying to push for the next movie to be Federation vs Klingon.
By Scifiwire at 2:55 PM ON 10/28/09
We removed some off-topic posts from this story thread. Reminder, please keep your posts related to the story you're commenting on.
By docmike at 3:29 PM ON 10/28/09
My guess is that it's for the upcoming Star Trek Online game
By Schwartz at 6:39 PM ON 10/28/09
This is turning into a rather interesting viral campaign. Hmmmmm who are you working for, SciFiWire?
By rayhigh at 11:42 PM ON 10/28/09
"Kooky"? WTF, are you writing from 1957 or something?
By Marty B. at 1:00 AM ON 10/29/09
Knowing "Klingon" per se through college study ain't much of resume builder, but you'd be surprised to know to whom mastery of artificial languages (specifically artificial language design) is actually impressive.
By Klingon_Fan at 7:40 AM ON 10/29/09
IBM would only care if Klingon labor was cheaper, and the crooks who run it could offshore the work from Earth.
By badboy at 9:32 AM ON 10/29/09
Sounds like the Republicans are trying to recruit!
By muadib at 3:14 PM ON 10/29/09
No!No!No!,it's a sneaky plan of j.j. abrahms to brainwash little kids to think HIS trek is the real trek through subliminal means.He must be stoppoped!
By Brian Barker at 12:20 PM ON 11/04/09
I think that the future world language must be between Esperanto or English, rather than an untried project like Klingon.
Esperanto is now within the top 100 languages, out of 6,800 worldwide, according to the CIA factbook. It is the 17th most used language in Wikipedia, and in use by Skype, Firefox and Facebook.
Native Esperanto speakers, include George Soros, Nobel Laureate Daniel Bovet, Ulrich Brandenberg the new German Ambassador for NATO and World Champion Chess Player, Susan Polger. The World Esperanto Association enjoys consultative relations with both the United Nations and UNESCO.
Evidence can be seen at http://www.lernu.net
By Iwpach at 3:18 PM ON 11/04/09
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