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Broken Bow: Double meaning?

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Friedhelm Weber

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May 14, 2002, 5:06:12 PM5/14/02
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Greetings,

in the German-speaking newsgroup de.rec.sf.startrek.enterprise, we're
currently having a discussion about the double meanings of some of the
titles of Enterprise episodes.

(well, there aren't many that actually have one, unlike TOS or TNG e.g.)

Anyway, we were wondering, whether the term "Broken Bow" has some other
connection with the plot other than it being the crash site of Klang
(sp?, well, the Klingon) that is more apparent to native speakers? :)
--
Bye,
Friedhelm

Mel Walker

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May 14, 2002, 5:43:35 PM5/14/02
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In article <abru85$lcr$06$1...@news.t-online.com>,
Friedhelm Weber <friedhe...@firemail.de> wrote:

Possibly a pun on Captain Archer's name, but that's all this native
speaker ever thought of.

David B.

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May 14, 2002, 8:52:47 PM5/14/02
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It's just the name of the town where the Klingon crashed.

23skidoo...@lycos.com

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May 15, 2002, 1:21:48 AM5/15/02
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Hi Friedhelm --

I think I agree that it's a pun on Archer's name, though it might also
be a nautical term, which fits with the "seafaring" nature of Star
Trek. I might be wrong as I'm not into ocean vessels, but I recognized
the term when I first heard the title mentioned.

Cheers

Alex

In article <abru85$lcr$06$1...@news.t-online.com>, Friedhelm Weber
<friedhe...@firemail.de> wrote:

John C. Baker

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May 15, 2002, 10:15:26 AM5/15/02
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In article <abru85$lcr$06$1...@news.t-online.com>,
Friedhelm Weber <friedhe...@firemail.de> wrote:

> Anyway, we were wondering, whether the term "Broken Bow" has some other
> connection with the plot other than it being the crash site of Klang
> (sp?, well, the Klingon) that is more apparent to native speakers? :)

Besides being a pun on Archer's name, a broken bow was often meant to
symbolize the end of hostilities among Native American tribes. Perhaps
Archer has changed history and made open conflict with the Klingons
unlikely.

Brent McKee

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May 17, 2002, 4:34:07 AM5/17/02
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John C. Baker <jc...@axe.humboldt.edu> wrote in message
news:jcb10-891A9A....@netnews.attbi.com...

For the record there is a town of Broken Bow Oklahoma in the south-eastern
part of the state, near the borders with Arkansas and Texas. It seems like
the sort of place where a farmer who has had his silo destroyed is likely to
shoot first and not bother to ask questions at any time.

--
Brent McKee

To reply by email, please remove the capital letters (S and N) from the
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"If we cease to judge this world, we may find ourselves, very quickly, in
one which is infinitely worse."
- Margaret Atwood


Griffin Morgan

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May 18, 2002, 3:04:43 PM5/18/02
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The name "Broken Bow" Refers to the name of the town in Oklahoma Where the
Klingon K'Lang Crashed... I liek the idea that it is possibly a pun on
Archer's name though... that's kinda cool

--
\\\|///
\ ~ ~ /
(- o o -)
--oOOo-(_)-oOOo----------------
My goal in life is rather simple. It is to
rid the world of stupid people, for it
is stupid people that can't comprehend
Sarcasm.

<23skidoo...@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:140520022321547974%23skidoo...@lycos.com...

Capt.Damage

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May 20, 2002, 9:41:52 PM5/20/02
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The answer is even more diabolical than that:

"Broken Bow"

Is a mission statement.

Translates loosely into:

"Let's pour our dwindling energies and overregarded talent into
watering down this franchise from its skim-milk Voyager consistency
to the intellectual and emotional equivalent of a dehydrated smear
of snotty nasal fluid."

Break the show, bow out.

It's that simple.

They're doing a great job of it, too.

-Capt.Damage

dvd...@webtv.net

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May 22, 2002, 10:31:18 PM5/22/02
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bow is also the term for either the front or back of a ship. I forget if
it's front or back.

Timo S Saloniemi

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May 23, 2002, 2:20:50 AM5/23/02
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In article <9883-3CE...@storefull-2251.public.lawson.webtv.net> dvd...@webtv.net writes:

>bow is also the term for either the front or back of a ship. I forget if
>it's front or back.

Depending mainly on *when* you ask, it can be either the front, or then
both. Today, people generally consider the foward end of the ship
the "bow" and the aft end the "stern". Earlier, it was more customary to
speak of "bows", plural, meaning the port and starboard "cheeks" of the
ship's front end. And earlier still, "bow" was any such curved part of
the hull, be it forward starboard or port aft. IIRC. AFAIK. BMIIFU.

As to the origins of the terms, perhaps "bow" has something to do
with the "bowed" shape of the front part? "Stern" at least obviously
seems to stem from "steering", which of course was handled at
the aft part of the ship. Not that the language of origin would
necessarily be English...

Here in Finland, the older terminology still persists: the direct
translations of "bow" and "stern" would be "bow" and "aft bow"...

Timo Saloniemi

machf

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May 23, 2002, 4:29:10 PM5/23/02
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I prefer "proa" and "popa"...
;-)
--
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_H__/_/ http://machf.tripod.com
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