Klingon Toasts, Blessings & Ceremonial Phrases — Beyond Qapla'

Klingon Toasts, Blessings, and Ceremonial Phrases

Everyone knows Qapla'. Almost nobody knows that Klingon has a canonical toast — a real one, taught by Marc Okrand himself, involving screaming blood — plus a blessing register, a wish-suffix built into the grammar, and a whole ceremonial vocabulary of rites, feasts, and drinking songs. If you have ever wanted to raise a mug of bloodwine correctly, this is the guide.

TL;DR / Quick Answer: The Klingon toast is 'IwlIj jachjaj — "may your blood scream" (Power Klingon, Okrand 1993). The great blessing is batlh Daqawlu'taH — "you will be remembered with honor." Qapla' ("success") is a farewell, cheer, and toast — but not a greeting. Bloodwine is 'Iw HIq; drink it from a HIvje' while someone bellows a HIvje' bom, a drinking song.

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Qapla' — What It Actually Means and When to Use It

Qapla' (pronounced khap-LAH, with the Q fired from the back of the throat and a final glottal stop) is a noun meaning success — from the verb Qap, to succeed or achieve.

Its three correct uses:

1. Farewell. The default Klingon goodbye: you wish the departing warrior success in whatever comes next. This is its most common on-screen role.
2. Victory cheer. Shouted after a won battle, a completed mission, a passed exam. English "Victory!" is close.
3. Toast. Raised glass, one word, drink.

Its one wrong use: as a greeting. Klingons greet — when they bother — with nuqneH, "what do you want?" Walking into a room and announcing Qapla' is the conlang equivalent of answering the phone with "goodbye." We cover the full story in what Qapla' means and how to use it.

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The Canonical Toast: 'IwlIj jachjaj

In the Power Klingon audio course (1993), Marc Okrand teaches an authentic Klingon toast:

'IwlIj jachjaj — "May your blood scream."

The anatomy of the phrase:

• 'Iw — blood (attested in The Klingon Dictionary)
• -lIj — your (possessive suffix)
• jach — to scream, cry out
• -jaj — the wish suffix: "may it be so"

That final syllable, -jaj, is the grammatical heart of all Klingon well-wishing. Okrand's Type-9-adjacent suffix turns any verb into an invocation. It is how a warrior culture prays without praying.

Delivery matters: per Power Klingon, a toast is shouted, ideally in unison, ideally slamming mugs together hard enough to slosh. Klingon toasting is a contact sport.

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Blessings and Formal Well-Wishes

batlh Daqawlu'taH — "You will be remembered with honor"

Also from Power Klingon, this is the great Klingon compliment-blessing, built on batlh (honor) and qaw (remember). Say it to a warrior departing on a dangerous mission, at a retirement, at a funeral, or — in fan practice — signing off a message to someone you respect. It asserts the one immortality Klingons believe in: being remembered well.

Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam — "Today is a good day to die"

The most famous Klingon proverb, recorded in Okrand's The Klingon Way (1996) and built on Hegh (to die) and jajvam (this day). It functions as a pre-battle benediction — not fatalism but readiness: affairs in order, honor intact, nothing left unsaid. Shouted before combat, it is the closest Klingon comes to a war-blessing. More proverbs like it live in our Klingon proverbs collection.

tlhIngan maH — "We are Klingons"

Recorded in The Klingon Way: tlhIngan (Klingon) + maH (we). Two words, no verb needed — Klingon lets nouns stand as the predicate. It is the identity-affirmation that ends arguments and starts charges, and it works as a communal toast among the initiated.

majQa' — "Well done!"

The exclamation of high praise (maj, "good," intensified). Not a toast per se, but the correct one-word response when someone else's toast, song, or deed lands well.

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The Ceremonial Drinking Vocabulary

All attested in Okrand's corpus:

Klingon	Meaning
'Iw HIq	bloodwine (blood + wine/liquor)
HIq	liquor, ale, wine — the generic
chechtlhutlh	chech'tluth, a Klingon liquor
HIvje'	mug, tumbler, glass
tlhutlh	to drink
chech	to be drunk
HIvje' bom	drinking song
lopno'	party, celebration, feast
qegh	vat, barrel for storing liquor

A proper Klingon feast (lopno') sequence: bloodwine poured from the qegh, a shouted 'IwlIj jachjaj, mugs slammed, a HIvje' bom bellowed off-key — melodic beauty is explicitly not the point of Klingon drinking songs — and heart of targ (targh tIq, also canon) served to the honored guest. For what Klingons sing when they mean it, see Klingon songs and the opera 'u'.

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Rites and Ceremonies: The Ritual Vocabulary

Klingon has dedicated canon words for its rites — useful for fan fiction, weddings, and understanding Deep Space Nine:

• nentay — the Rite of Ascension, the coming-of-age ordeal (canonically in two stages: nentay wa'DIch and nentay cha'DIch, the First and Second Rites).
• qutluch tay — the Kut'luch ceremony, named for the assassin's blade.
• Heghtay — the death ritual: eyes opened, a warning howl sent to the dead that a warrior is coming. The destination is Suto'vo'qor — Sto-Vo-Kor, the afterlife of the honored dead. Our Klingon death phrases guide covers this register in depth.
• tIgh — custom, the general word for tradition; no' are the ancestors those customs honor.

Weddings have their own vocabulary and their own post — see Klingon wedding vows and phrases.

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Building Your Own Well-Wish with -jaj

Because -jaj is productive grammar, you can construct new, grammatically correct invocations from attested vocabulary:

1. bIQapjaj — "May you succeed."
2. bIyoHjaj — "May you be brave."
3. batlh bIHeghjaj — "May you die with honor." (A compliment. Really.)
4. bIchechjaj — "May you be drunk." (For the feast.)

Each uses the prefix bI- (you, no object) plus an attested verb — Qap, yoH, Hegh, chech — plus -jaj. This is the same pattern Okrand's own toasts use, and practicing it teaches you more real Klingon grammar than memorizing a phrasebook page.

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People Also Ask

Do Klingons say "cheers"? The functional equivalent is Qapla' or the full toast 'IwlIj jachjaj. There is no soft clink-and-sip register — Klingon toasting is loud by design.

What is bloodwine actually called in Klingon? 'Iw HIq — literally "blood wine," from 'Iw (blood) and HIq (wine/liquor). Both components are core dictionary vocabulary; see our Klingon dictionary of common words.

Is "may your blood scream" really official? Yes — 'IwlIj jachjaj is taught by Marc Okrand on the Power Klingon audio course (Simon & Schuster, 1993), which is canon-grade source material alongside The Klingon Dictionary.

How do you wish someone a happy birthday or good luck in Klingon? There is no attested "happy birthday," and luck is culturally suspect — Klingons credit skill. The idiomatic solve is Qapla' for good luck and batlh Daqawlu'taH for milestone occasions. For everyday hellos and goodbyes, see essential Klingon greetings and phrases.

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Related Reading

• 50 Common Klingon Words Every Beginner Should Know
• Klingon Dictionary: Common Words in tlhIngan Hol
• Qapla' — Meaning, Pronunciation, and Use
• Klingon Words for Strength and Honor
• Klingon Phrases About Death and the Afterlife

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