The Klingon language is from the Star Trek franchise. The details of the language were first put forth in the book The Klingon Dictionary by Marc Okrand, a linguist who was hired by Paramount Pictures to develop the language for the feature films. Klingon is spoken by some dedicated Star Trek fans and to be able to converse in Klingon may be seen as the mark of a true geek. As the actors do not know Klingon, it is often badly mispronounced, as the letters are read as if it were English.
Appearances in The Big Bang Theory[]
- Klingon Boggle is mentioned in the "Pilot".
- In "The Bad Fish Paradigm" (S2E01), Sheldon grills Penny on her qualifications to date Leonard. One of his questions for her is, "Do you speak Klingon?"
- "The Panty Piñata Polarization" (S2E07) opens with a game of Klingon Boggle The following Klingon words are used:
- pagh - zero/nothing
- potlh - important
- puchpa' - washroom (mispronounced as puHpa-a)
- chor - belly
- neHmaH - neutral zone
- bIlughbe' - meaning "you are not correct". Sheldon's reaction to Howard's "Qeplagh". (mispronounced as b/iː/ - l/ɛ/erb -/eɪ/)
- Qapla''a' - literally "big success"; Sheldon uses this word to announce the starting of a game, probably meaning "(wish you) a great success". (mispronounced as qepla''a')
- Qochbe' - to agree (mispronounced as Huch- iː - b/eɪ/ - /heɪ/)
- loH - administration
- maH - suffix for tens (not a word on its own)
- chergh - to tolerate (mispronounced as cher-gh)
- In "The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary" (S3E05), Penny says she told the friend with whom she had hooked up Howard that he spoke five languages, to which Howard replies "Six, if you count Klingon!". Leonard remarks that "Girls don't count Klingon," and Penny agrees.
- Later in "The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary"(S3E05), Sheldon taunts Wil Wheaton during the Mystic Warlords of Ka'a tournament at the comic book store by snarling a proverb in the Klingon language, and Wil Wheaton hears and understands it.
- bortaS bIr jablu'DI' reH QaQqu' nay' [1]
- (This is commonly considered to be a Klingon proverb, invented by Marie Joseph Eugène Sue, meaning "Revenge is a dish best served cold!" [2]) (mispronounced as bo-taS b/iː/r jablu'/diː/ re' ?an-qot n/aɪ/)
- In "The Vacation Solution" (S5E16), Penny thinks that Bernadette has talked Howard out of having their wedding invitations in Klingon, but Bernadette tells her that the Klingon text is on the back.
- In "The Hawking Excitation" (S5E21), Howard rejects Sheldon's request to see Stephen Hawking in several lanugages. He says no ("Qo'"), but mispronounces it as "qo".
- In "The Proton Transmogrification" (S7E22), Penny asks Leonard what his regrets are and one of the many he says is that he didn't learn another language. Penny says that he learnt Klingon and Leonard supposes that it is true. Penny then says that she meant it as a regret.
- In "The Countdown Reflection" (S5E24), in the wedding of Howard and Bernadette, Sheldon tries to give the wedding speech in Klingon, but is stopped by Bernadette.
- In "The Romance Resonance" (S7E06), in the song If I Didn't Have You that Howard writes and sings for Bernadette, he includes a Klingon line: I'd speak a lot more Klingon, qalop'meH QaQ jajvam (literally: This day is good in order for me to celebrate you.)
- In "The Mystery Date Observation" (S9E08), mystery "date" Vanessa Bennett has a conversation with Sheldon and she says HIja' 'e' QaQqu' je. (Literally: Yes, and its really good too.)
- In "The Veracity Elasticity" (S10E07), Leonard and Sheldon find that Penny has moved several of Leonard's collectibles into storage, including a "Klingon Word of the Day" calendar, causing them both to say "Dammit" in Klingon. As Amy and Penny are present, Leonard and Sheldon try to determine if Penny is lying by conversating in Klingon to prevent the girls from understanding. In retaliation, the girls talk to each other in Ubbi dubbi. Sheldon asks Leonard again in Klingon if he understands what the girls are saying, and as he didn't, Sheldon says "Dammit!" in Klingon once more.