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Australian Cave Offers Klingon Audio Tour 54

Posted by samzenpus from the enjoy-the-tour-you-filthy-targ dept.
schliz writes "An Australian cave system visited by 200,000 tourists a year is expanding its range of audio guides to support Klingon. Cave operators reportedly engaged the services of two 'Klingon scholars' from the US, following Star Trek's naming of a 'Sydney Class' Starship, the USS Jenolan."
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Australian Cave Offers Klingon Audio Tour More

Australian Cave Offers Klingon Audio Tour

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  • How do you say "This cave is dark and musty, just like Mom's basement!" in Klingon?

    .
    • So'wI' yIchu'Ha'!
      QInlIj vIjang

      Hurgh'taH DISvam 'ej He'taH DISvam 'e' 'atlhqam rur, SoSwI' wutlh pa' rur DISvam

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Vastad ( 1299101 )

        How do I ask Google to add Klingon to their list of supported languages in Google Translate?

        You could just be getting your cat to walk back and forth across your keyboard. There are definitely Trekkies among Google's ranks that could spend their "20% private project time" adding it to the service.

  • Important question (Score:3, Funny)

    by Vinegar Joe ( 998110 ) on Tuesday July 27, 2010 @08:54AM (#33044064)

    Will the tour be conducted in the Northern or Southern Klingon dialect? I find the Northern dialect to sound rather classless.

  • Well, at least now I can explore a whole new continent of girls who won't go out with me.

  • Great site (Score:3, Funny)

    by Joey Vegetables ( 686525 ) on Tuesday July 27, 2010 @09:05AM (#33044240) Journal
    I love this site [translationindia.com] which claims among other things that most of its translators are native Klingon speakers.
    • Perfect for that conference you're about to have with the crew of that Klingon warship that's approaching with phasers and torpedoes armed. Open hailing frequencies...
  • Should start selling Klingon wine.

  • Klingon Tour (Score:5, Funny)

    by Ukab the Great ( 87152 ) on Tuesday July 27, 2010 @09:11AM (#33044318)

    "Qapla mates and welcome to the caves. I'm Gorvok and I'll be your guide today. Gakh and bloodwine are available at the concession stand on the surface, and if you truly have the stomach of a klingon, we also have Fosters. Just like a bird of prey, the caves also don't have bathrooms so make sure to hit the loo before we start. If you happen to get lost in the caves, just remember it's a good day to die and I'll see you in Stovalkor."

  • just to go cave exploring? Go grab some sunlight for chrissakes...

  • Two "Klingon Scholars" isn't that something of an oxymoron?
  • They have assimilated.
  • The thing about these sci-fi languages that I've always thought is silly is that on Earth we have, what, about 6,000 languages? But sci-fi worlds tend to have only one language for the whole planet. Or does that mean that we silly monkey-men have not yet evolved and progressed to the point where we are all one cohesive yellowish, black- brownish,reddish whitish bald race with purple goo on our heads and speak a singular guttural language? Although I have to say, if this is a trend for Australia, watching

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ElectricTurtle ( 1171201 )
      After a few generations of near-instant communication and transportation on the scale of 'anywhere in the world in 24 hours' I think that a planetary monoculture is inevitable. Cultural homogenization is visible throughout history and across geography. Cultural anthropologist Wade Davis among others believes that of those 6000 languages 90% will be extinct by 2050 (though I think his estimate is extreme and unscientific). In any case, the rate of language death is increasing. There were more languages going

      • If I were a betting man, I would wager that in the next century or two the number of languages in common use will reduce to one or two hundred.

        If I were a betting man, I'd take you up on that for several reasons despite your assertion that rapid transit and near instant communication will reduce barriers. (Ignoring, of course, the fact that jet travel is becoming much more expensive and likely less common depending on how how oil supplies do over the next century.)

        1. Many languages are spoken in very low-t

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sodul ( 833177 )

          Some relatively small countries have several languages: Belgium has 3 official languages and is not large, same for Switzerland. There is a global push back against globalization where local cultures are getting praised and nourished where they used to be banned. I also think it is short sighted to consider that the need for a 'shared' language (especially when traveling) would cause language extinction. Most people are actually able to learn more than one language, it is quite common in some countries, esp

          • Actually, Switzerland has four. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland [wikipedia.org]

            Same happens with Spain, which is quite small and has five. Inside Spain, the nation of Catalonia itself has two: Catalan (which is also spoken in Valencia, Balear Islands, the country of Andorra, south of France and in Sardinia, Italy) and Aranese, spoken by about 7000 inhabitants of a very isolated valley. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain [wikipedia.org]

            Those languages are not diminishing, but actually, being more widely used, in spite of hundreds

        • And before that, latin, and before that, greek, If you think of western civilizations. I wonder what was used in the east and in the silk route...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by selven ( 1556643 )

      In Star Trek you don't hear humans speaking anything but English. Also, you might notice that no technologically advanced planet in most sci fi universes has multiple governments operating on it. One world government, one world language.

      • And in Star Wars, even the topology of the planets/moons is singular. Hoth, the snow planet. Dagobah, the swamp world. Tattooine, the desert planet. Endor, the forest moon. Etc.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tenco ( 773732 )
          Earth, the ocean planet.
          • Except that it's not JUST ocean only (evidenced by the fact that I'm not breathing through gills). Earth has the environments of all of those other fictitious planets/moons I mentioned combined, plus a lot more. But yeah, I think our planet would have been more accurately named "Sea." Although referring to a human as a "sealing" (ceiling?) would be a little confusing...

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by tenco ( 773732 )
              As if Hoth would only be covered in snow or Tattoine fully covered with desert. A good 70% is IMHO good enough to characterize a planet with it.
              • As if? Dude, Hoth IS completely covered in snow and Tattooine WAS presented as nothing else but a desert plant. Endor was completely forest. Dagobah was completely swamp, for all we saw. No other environments were shown. That was my point. It would pretty much be the equivalent of, say, an alien race's entire knowledge of the planet Earth be limited to the movie "Waterworld." I'd like sci-fi planets to be more varied in their on-screen (or even in-written-novel) depictions than just being only "deser

      • When we might have advanced enough to have only one world government and have gotten beyond all that nationalism. One (or more likely 2) remaining languages on Earth is a likely event given how few languages remain and how quickly we are losing them.

  • Let me know when they provide audio tracks in Thermian.

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