What Is Geekier, in light of recent admissions Options

[Oni Usagi]

I've been reading some recent posts and wondered.
Also, to add a little bit more content to each post, please answer a simple question: Would you date someone who spoke Elvish (any variant) or Klingon?

I think Klingon is a bit more geeky, simply because elves are (slightly) more mainstream. Also because Elves good guys where Klingons are generally bad guys (I think).

Also, I would soo date a girl who spoke elven (if I could find one ). I would also date a girl who spoke Klingon, but speaking Klingon would be neither a plus or a minus.

[Ikemook]

I dunno, maybe I'm just an insensitive ass, but...

Why in heaven's name do people bother to learn these languages?

I mean, if you're going to put the time into learning something, learn something USEFUL *_* Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, French, German, Spanish, just pick something that people actually speak on a regular basis.

There are plenty of interesting, challenging, and unique human languages out there that I can hardly see why you would need to learn the language of a people that don't even exist.

I guess there's some sort of cool factor that I'm not seeing here.

And sure, I guess I would date someone who spoke Elven or Klingon, but I'd probably end up asking her why she learned the language. Which would ultimately lead to me voicing the above opinion.

Which would probably lead to no more dating of said woman ^_~

David

[CommieBastard]

Ikemook: Can't speak for others, and I don't actually speak either of those languages, but I've been known to learn languages for fun. Elven is a very nice language - find somewhere on the Web where it's written phonetically and say it aloud. Maybe just because it's nice to speak?

Hell, I'd sure go out with a girl who spoke Elven. Try holding me back I think the real test would come if she played D&D, though.

[Artemisia]

Commie, maybe we should get you and Jicama together....she has a long line of D&D playing in her family...was born into it... But she speaks Klingon, as you well know, not Elvish. Her mom, however, has a pedometer and is walking to Moria.

No more picking on Jicama for knowing Klingon!!!! This is one of the things that adds to her coolness, and she wouldn't be Jicama without it. And, as we all heard in the news last year, that can be a valuable skill (as in the incident where a person with mental problems would/could only speak Klingon and the psychiatrists in charge of him wanted to hire an interpretor. )

[Sir Psycho Sexy]

Can't really comment about the geekiness of knowing klingon....seeing as i own the official English - Klingon Dictionary

Though it was bought for me, I didn't buy it for myself....though I did ask for it >_>

Two of my favourite phrases being:

tachDaq maghom (We will meet in the cocktail lounge)

and

nuqDaq yuch Dapol (Where do you keep the chocolate?)

[Cath Sparrow]

I said both were equally geekie but in my books that's not a bad thing as I seem to find geeks sexy anyway!

[CommieBastard]

Elven is more old-school geek, I think...plus, there are a whole bunch of different dialects of Elven, speaking them all would be impressive.

[Snugglebum the D...]

Personally, if I had to choose I think Klingon is definately more geeky.

However, I think it's really cool that someone would learn something that wasn't a 'real' language. You've got to admire that.

[Greeneyes]

Elven is more old-school geek, I think...plus, there are a whole bunch of different dialects of Elven, speaking them all would be impressive.

I've got to ask. Who makes up these languages, and what are they based on? I imagine at least one is based on Tolkien, but what about the rest? Are they all variants on the same thing, or are there completely different ones?

[CommieBastard]

Tolkien created Elvish and all variants thereof - he was an Oxford Professor of Linguistics, and thus highly qualified to do so, as well as being a very intelligent man. As far as I know, they're all similar, variants on a theme rather than completely different languages. They all use the same alphabet, I think.

[kidvicious2punk]

i dunno..klingon i guess

cuz elvish is kewl

klingon...lol...cling-on....

[Phyllis]

I said both were equally geekie but in my books that's not a bad thing as I seem to find geeks sexy anyway!

Ditto! Elvish definitely sounds prettier, though.

Meanwhile, I know neither Klingon or Elvish, but I know a little Al Bhed. I had an Al Bhed custom title for a loooong time when I first joined. I didn't set out with the intent of learning a made-up language...it just sort of stuck from playing the game too much and playing with that translater I found.

[Sir Maxerpopple]

Klingon comes from various african dialects, which makes it less geeky. Why? Because I'm a trekkie and I say so.

where Klingons are generally bad guys (I think).

That depends. In TOS they were bad guys. In ST:TMP V they were representative of the USSR(to the fullest, though in TOS they were as well. In the more culturally understanding emphasis of TNG, the Klingons were portrayed in a more positive light. We got to see their ceremonies as well as their government. It showed their interesting culture, as opposed to the belligerent secrecy of TOS. In DS9, the Klingons are portrayed as fickle allies.

So, they're not so much villains so much as they are "different", though sometimes they do bad things, sort of like the Ferengi.

/\ geek

[Righteous]

Klingon, because Trekkies frighten me.

My brother and I want to make an animation where Patrick Stewart charges me to go save William Sharner from the clutches of a Trekky convention. Needless to say, I get to kick a lot of Trekky ass.

[Tigersong]

Tolkien created Elvish and all variants thereof - he was an Oxford Professor of Linguistics, and thus highly qualified to do so, as well as being a very intelligent man. As far as I know, they're all similar, variants on a theme rather than completely different languages. They all use the same alphabet, I think.

Although people have used the grammar and words that he set up and expanded quite a lot on them.

Klingon is probably geekier, because LotR went somewhat more mainstream in comparison to Star Trek. Still, Geekiness is the New Cool.

[gothictheysay]

Klingon is definitely geekier.

And sure I would. I'd make them teach me the language. I'd go for a Klingon over an Elvishspeaker

[acid_rain_child]

I picked them as equal, but I'd say Klingon is worse in some degrees. The people who speak Klingon scare me more than people who speak Elvish. Beside, I can't stand Star Trek in general, the fans are kind of weird but whatever floats your boat. I think Trekkies are geekier than Saturday night D&D players, because at least in D&D you have to interact with other human beings.

And then compare a Star Trek Convention *shivers* to say the Renaissance Festival. I think I change my vote to Klingon.

[{Gothic Angel}]

I used to speak elven rlly well, and know all the grammar and stuff, but I can hardly remember it at all now.

Klingon is "geekier" in the classic sense of "geek" because trekkies are usually the ones who speak it. And trekkies are like the stereotypical geeks.

Also, fantasy just adds and air of mystery an excitement to a usually recogniseable setting (medievil, western etc) whereas SciFi is more about the future and the unknown so people feel more threatened by it, hence fantasy being more mainstream

Plus theres the fact that Elvish sounds a lot nicer. Its the difference between Spanish and German.

Im done now.

[artist.unknown]

My cousin's a trekkie and he rather frightens me sometimes, but I have elvish written all over some jeans I savaged with a Sharpie and I'm a hopeless geek, so who knows. Although LotR IS more mainstream, it's not the *shudder* Orlando Bloom fangirls who learn elvish; it's still the real geeks. I think they're about equal on the geeky scale.

And as for people learning "useless" languages, the same could be said for Latin, and it's taught extensively (yes, it helps with English, but the point is, Latin's not going to help you in everyday life except to read nonsense like school mottos).

[Sir Maxerpopple]

I wouldn't equate latin to elvish. While not conventional, it is quite useful for the legal and medical professions, as well as english and other romance language scholarly activities.

[Galder Weatherwa...]

Elvish is definetely the geekier, the reason being Klingon isn't geeky at all. It's nerdy.

[Kamaradi]

Ah, true. Good point.

Although, I'd rather be nerdy than geeky any day.

[Ikemook]

Latin definitely has uses. Beyond what Sir Maxerpopple wrote, Latin (as well as Greek) helps significantly with English grammer, as well as the grammer of any other language that Latin bleeds into.

Latin also has more "obvious" uses, such as translating and reading original Roman texts (as with Greek and Greek texts), and other such works originally written in Latin.

See, I'm one of those people who has lots of trouble learning languages. I'm not sure why; I can't think quick enough to listen to and successfully translate languages. Believe me, I've tried (hell, I still had problems with Latin, and you don't even speak that).

So I've never really understood why people who can learn languages easier than I can learn languages such as Klingon and Elvish. Don't get me wrong; I'm very impressed that Tolkien and others were capable of creating the languages. And I'm impressed that people have learned those languages (simply for the fact that they've learned a language). If you like it, and it floats your boat, learn it.

I just don't understand why *_*

Anyway, I'd say both are close enough to be equally geeky. Trekkies do tend to be on the scary side, but Tolkien fans can be (and are) just as obsessive.

It seems that Tolkien fans are less showy, and probably more accepted.

And to be fair, I really can't speak on geekiness. My screen name is a type of stone tool tradition, and I've spent a lot of time playing and revising Risk2210 with a bunch of friends *_*

David

[Edited to try and sound more respectful.]

[Oni Usagi]

Latin also has more "obvious" uses, such as translating and reading original Roman texts (as with Greek and Greek texts), and other such works originally written in Latin.

Oh and I suppose Elven doesn't have that same use? I suppose Tolkien is still alive to translate all that stuff he wrote in elvish for us? I can't wait till he comes out with his next book! [/sarcasm]

Also, I believe that D&D has it's own variant of elvish, so knowing elvish doesn't necessarilly correspond to being a gamer geek for those of you who judge them, even though Gamer Geeks > all > elbow > people who make fun of gamers.

[Ikemook]

"Oh and I suppose Elven doesn't have that same use? I suppose Tolkien is still alive to translate all that stuff he wrote in elvish for us? I can't wait till he comes out with his next book! [/sarcasm]"

*blink* *confused* (It's the last sentence that confuses me, really)

"Also, I believe that D&D has it's own variant of elvish, so knowing elvish doesn't necessarilly correspond to being a gamer geek for those of you who judge them, even though Gamer Geeks > all > elbow > people who make fun of gamers. "

Oh, for future reference (though I'm sure you're all aware of this already):

When you can speak Elvish and your DM can't, it's not a good idea to say your spells in Elvish when you cast them ^_~ Had someone almost try this once, not out of malice, but because she thought it'd be cool. And perhaps normally it would have been, if I had, ya know, been able to understand her.

On that note, I wasn't aware there was an actual D&D variant of Elvish. At least, one written out in full.

David