Messing With Mythology

Star Trek: The Next Generation showed a fascinating and creative episode where an alien culture spoke in shortcuts.  They would say “Shaka, when the walls fell,” instead of “You know, I think that’s a really stupid idea that’s likely to get the both of us killed in a very bloody and painful fashion, so how about you let me do the thinking for both of us.”  The entire episode was about finding bridges between the culture of the Federation and this other, completely alien civilization.

But that...