Klaatu barada nikto
English
Etymology
From the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still, in which an alien named Klaatu tells an Earthwoman a code phrase for his robot Gort. See first citation.
Phrase
Klaatu barada nikto
- A stock science-fiction phrase, typically used as a code or shibboleth.
- 1951, The Day the Earth Stood Still:
- If anything should happen to me you must go to Gort, you must say these words, 'Klaatu barada nikto', please repeat that.
- 2002, Womack, Jack, Going, Going, Gone, Grove Press, page 160:
- When I tried to make out the lingo I felt like a missionary among the heathen chinee. ¶ 'Interavesting per sliptimper transgratisfy allayvoo —' ¶ 'Not the old klaatu barada again,' I said ....
- 2003, McAuley, Paul, Whole Wide World, Macmillan, page 215:
- He glared down at me and said, "On your way, fella. This is a legitimate club." ¶ "Klaatu barada nikto," I said, but it went straight past him.
- 2004, Hold, James, Out of Texas, iUniverse, page 56:
- The Systems Analysis department featured a clock with only one hand and the motto Klaatu barada nikto, which, roughly translated, means: "IF IT AIN'T BROKE, JUST GIVE ME TIME."
- 2012, Bisson, Terry, Any Day Now, Penguin, page ??:
- It looked like something from Arthur C. Clarke, a space station that had ... fallen to earth .... ¶ "Klaatu barada nikto," he muttered.
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