Oregon County Seeks Klingon Interpreter

abc ^ | 5/10/03

[knak]

Position Available: Interpreter, must be fluent in Klingon.

The language created for the "Star Trek" TV series and movies is one of about 55 needed by the office that treats mental health patients in metropolitan Multnomah County.

"We have to provide information in all the languages our clients speak," said Jerry Jelusich, a procurement specialist for the county Department of Human Services, which serves about 60,000 mental health clients.

Although created for works of fiction, Klingon was designed to have a consistent grammar, syntax and vocabulary.

And now Multnomah County research has found that many people and not just fans consider it a complete language.

"There are some cases where we've had mental health patients where this was all they would speak," said the county's purchasing administrator, Franna Hathaway.

County officials said that obligates them to respond with a Klingon-English interpreter, putting the language of starship Enterprise officer Worf and other Klingon characters on a par with common languages such as Russian and Vietnamese, and less common tongues including Dari and Tongan.

[RandallFlagg]

Y'all just KNOW ol' Registered's gonna have fun with this one.

[Grut]

But wouldn't the Klingons simply kill anyone that crazy for being 'unfit'?

[breakem]

Sacramento seems okay, when the legislature is in recess. LOL!

[KneelBeforeZod]

how about the whitewater jury pool freak??

somehow I don't think she is busy.

[Focault's Pendulum]

I am deeply sad to hear this. I'm shaking my head in disbelief, that it would come to this........I have to pull up stakes and move to Multnomah County to finally be understood.

[KneelBeforeZod]

[KneelBeforeZod]

They eat Raiders fans for breakfast

[martin_fierro]

Klingon Language Institute

[KneelBeforeZod]

[Axman4]

I seem to remember a certain 'Fraiser' episode where Frasier thought he was speaking Yiddish at an event when he was really speaking Klingon.

[Senator Pardek]

At last! Comic Book Guy in Springfield can get a real job.

Excuse me, but I believe that Comic Book Guy is a self-sustaining entrepreneur - thank you very much.

And no, you do not have enough $$$ to purchase the Carl Yastremski card with the cool sideburns, so please get out of my store. Good day.

[bootless]

ROFL! "Good tea. Nice house."

and

"I am NOT a merry man."

My two favorite Worf lines...

[Cultural Jihad]

How do you say "angry taxpayer" in Klingon?

Iay ontday ownay, utbay inay igpay atinlay, itsay 'Angryay axpayertay.'

Seriously, while it's not too much of a stretch to expect mental health authorities to want to communicate with those whose English is not proficient or existent in order to help them, but trying to hire a fantasy TV show language translator because someone refuses to speak any other language is itself loony.

[The FRugitive]

"beam me up"

I think that says it all. LOL

[martin_fierro]

Ancient Klingon wisdom

[bootless]

Hey, maybe Jim Traficant can work off some of his pokey time in serving as a translator!

[gortklattu]

don't laugh, I know a guy in Denver who speaks fluent Chinese and Klingon.

Somewhere, on some planet, that has got to make sense

[No Truce With Kings]

"There are some cases where we've had mental health patients where this was all they would speak. . ."

I have to say it. . .

This is *NUTS!*

[Young Werther]

The News Editor for the National Space Society of North Texas club is my good buddy Curtis Kling. His vanity plates say "Klingon".

You can peruse our newsletter at www.nssnt.org.

You can rest assured that I forwarded the ABC article to him.