Timeline for "They roam the galaxy looking for something, they know not what. "
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
32 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 17, 2019 at 15:23 | vote | accept | ThePopMachine | ||
| Jul 26, 2018 at 19:16 | comment | added | ThePopMachine | @ell: I have little interest in debating the meaning of "archaic". I do find it ironic to argue about "how any dictionary uses" the word, when I literally showed you a dictionary definition. (Yes, I know you're going to point out that there's a difference between the dictionary definition of a word and some notion of "how they actually use it"). At any rate, I do not accept the descriptor "old-fashioned" which it seems to me usually means something like 50 years old when this construction clearly would have been equally old-fashioned even many decades ago. | |
| Jul 26, 2018 at 16:51 | comment | added | user428517 | @ThePopMachine It is not my opinion. Look at how any dictionary uses "archaic" and you'll find that I'm simply stating facts. | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 23:20 | comment | added | user14111 | How old is Q? About when did he learn English? | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 22:51 | comment | added | ThePopMachine | @Valorum: Sometimes the title is not a question. Sometimes it's a topic. | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 21:15 | comment | added | Valorum | The current question title isn't actually a question though. | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 20:43 | comment | added | ThePopMachine | @Valorum, If any change were needed, it would be "Why did Q say this like this"? But the question title is a hook, not the complete question. That's what the question text is for. I don't believe any additional words are needed. | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 20:42 | history | rollback | ThePopMachine |
Rollback to Revision 2
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| Jul 25, 2018 at 20:40 | comment | added | Valorum | @MrLister - I'll leave it to Pop. I think it's better and clearer | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 20:12 | history | edited | Valorum | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
edited title
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| Jul 25, 2018 at 19:01 | comment | added | Pharap | @ThePopMachine For what I'm calling "old fashioned", the term most dictionaries would use is 'dated'. Also I find many dictionaries are slightly off when classifying words that are or aren't still in common use. For example the Oxford dictionary classes 'bunkum' as dated, but it's still in use (although it's more common in certain regional dialects than others). | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 18:32 | comment | added | M. A. Golding | "But answer came there none —" The Walrus and the Carpenter, by Lewis Carroll. | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 18:19 | comment | added | erickson | @JeffLambert Or John 4:22, hinting that, like the Samaritan woman, the Enterprise believe there's "something" out there, but not really understanding what it is, while the Q (like the Jews) have a deeper understanding of reality. | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 18:01 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackSciFi/status/1022179940807192576 | ||
| Jul 25, 2018 at 16:31 | comment | added | ThePopMachine | @ell: This is your opinion, but the definition right there is "the use of old-fashioned features in language". I'm responding to the comment which is saying "it's not an archaism; it's just old-fashioned" when old-fashioned is literally the definition. | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 16:21 | comment | added | user428517 | @ThePopMachine those are indeed the definitions, but words have different meanings depending on context. In most dictionaries, "archaic" is only used for definitions that are no longer in use at all. Old fashioned words will be marked as "old-fashioned" or something like that. "Archaic" has a very specific meaning when talking about language, and it's not what you think. Using "know not" is definitely not archaic. | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 14:53 | comment | added | Lightness Races in Orbit | MCU Loki does this too. It's just style innit. Presumably supposed to give off the idea that the speaker is really old! | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 14:52 | comment | added | ThePopMachine | @Pharap: Definition from Google: - a thing that is very old or old-fashioned. - an archaic word or style of language or art. - the use or conscious imitation of very old or old-fashioned styles or features in language or art. | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 9:48 | comment | added | J... |
...and they don't even know what they're looking for. This is the sort of English up with which I will not put!
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| Jul 25, 2018 at 3:57 | comment | added | Pharap | I wouldn't call this an 'archaism'. It might be old fashioned, but it's still in use. | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 2:16 | comment | added | Ham Sandwich | I'm pretty sure that Q knows every human language far better than humans do, even Reginald Barclay in "Nth Degree." How dare you question Q's usage of the language! | |
| Jul 25, 2018 at 0:04 | comment | added | Ben | "Know not what" is a reasonably common archaic phrase, in my experience. It's almost reached the status of idiom (which often have their roots in things which once were regular parts of the language and aren't anymore, when people keep saying them anyway). Except that "know not what" isn't part of the everyday language, it's generally only used when you want to sound a bit "poetical" or "deep" (which is exactly what both Q in-universe and the show creators out-of-universe are doing here). | |
| Jul 24, 2018 at 20:17 | comment | added | Jeff Lambert | This could be a biblical reference as mentioned by Todd, Luke 23:34: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." To me it would match the condescending paternalistic attitude of Q, as well as offer the connotation that humanity needs to be forgiven for being basically apes in spaceships. | |
| Jul 24, 2018 at 19:30 | comment | added | Gaultheria | @ToddWilcox — Since this episode is effectively Q's crucifixion due to his association with humans, a reference to Luke 23:34 (about humans causing more damage than we comprehend) seems appropriate. | |
| Jul 24, 2018 at 17:19 | answer | added | Machavity | timeline score: 17 | |
| Jul 24, 2018 at 17:18 | answer | added | ThePopMachine | timeline score: 56 | |
| Jul 24, 2018 at 17:17 | comment | added | Hans Olo | @ThePopMachine imdb.com/title/tt0708758/quotes Most of the quotes in there strike me as something only Q would say (compared to other characters). | |
| Jul 24, 2018 at 17:05 | comment | added | ThePopMachine | @Xantec: This was dialog between Q and Data only. | |
| Jul 24, 2018 at 16:48 | comment | added | Xantec | Too, Q was always ostentatious. He may have simply been attempting to impress Picard and crew. | |
| Jul 24, 2018 at 16:45 | comment | added | Todd Wilcox | It might be a reference to classical literature, and also for dialog to be effective it has to have a rhythm and musicality to it, so this might have been the most musical construction the screenwriter was able to formulate. "They know not" is a construction used multiple times in the King James Bible. | |
| Jul 24, 2018 at 16:15 | history | edited | ThePopMachine | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
deleted 1 character in body
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| Jul 24, 2018 at 16:06 | history | asked | ThePopMachine | CC BY-SA 4.0 |