Today I heard Kira say, "What the hell" when she was wondering why DS9 had disappeared. Even though I'd seen that episode before, I hadn't really questioned her use of the word because various characters say it.
But when I heard it today, I had to wonder: why would a Bajoran say it? Their spiritual beliefs do not include the concept of hell, so if there's no cultural basis for it, then her language wouldn't contain it, either.
Then my mind got going: have any other aliens used it, or is it just Bajorans, or more specifically, just Kira? Could it be that she never speaks English but only speaks in her own language, and the Universal Translator is converting her own Bajoran-based word to an English approximation, which equals "hell"? Did the writers even consider this, or does this go into one of those nerdy lists of Star Trek discrepencies (which I'm sure exists somewhere)?
This is another layer that I have yet to explore in that series, which can easily be answered if I did some online research, but I'm not obsessed enough with the show to do that.
2 comments:
09 23 06
Hey MJ:
Well the Bajoran concept of hell was where the PaWraiths resided and in the last episode of DS9, the Costomogan was banished to the caves when Ducat and Sisko got into the fight and fell down! Maybe hell in Bajoran translates to "PaWraith domain". hehehehehehe Have a great week:)
55! (online Thai laugh) I haven't seen all the DS9 episodes, including that one, but I'll pay attention if I do (have to tape episodes I've missed).
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