I think long term readers will know what a big Star Trek fan I am. I especially like the Klingons. It interests me how intricate and detailed the fictional alien species is: over the years we trekkies have watched it develop an interesting culture based on the notion of ‘honour’, complete with it’s own religion (‘Glory to Kah’less!”) and language. Thus, while I don’t actually speak Klingon or Klingonese as some Trek fans apparently do, I like to regularly use a couple of words I’ve picked up, just to show what a geek I am.

A while ago I began to wonder about something. These days, when I head out of my flat in my powerchair of a morning, I often leave my PA Serkan here, giving him space to, say, tidy up or mop the floor. As I head out, it has become like our tradition to exclaim the word “Qa’pla!” (success!) at one another, simply as a farewell or good luck expression. I have also taken to using the (never defined) insult “P’Tahk” when I’m confronted with people I object to, usually Tories or Brexiteers, and I’ve noticed Serkan now occasionally using the term too. This has made me wonder: Can Serkan be the only person who regularly uses Klingon words, but who, to my knowledge, has never watched an episode of of Star Trek and has never heard of Klingons?

Joking aside, it goes to show how such geeky, niche things can sometimes take on a dimension of their own. To be honest I find it very endearing that Serkan would choose to use words which he doesn’t know the meaning or origin of, which come from a TV program he has never watched, just to strike a chord with me. Qa’pla!