Dear Auntie Ora,
Please tell me why "quark" is pronounced "quork"?
[SCENE - Quark's Bar, The Promenade Deck, DS9. Pythia enters and sits down
at the bar, next to an anatoid Creature. Quark bustles over to her.]
Quark: Haven't seen you around here before, sweetheart.
Pythia: Shut up and get me a Romulan ale.
Quark: Okay, okay! I was only making conversation.
[He moves off to fulfil the order, grumbling. Pythia turns to the Creature.]
Pythia: Just out of idle curiosity, what's the barkeep's name?
Creature: Quark.
Pythia: [surreptitiously scribbling notes] You're sure about that?
Creature: Quark, Quark.
Pythia: Fine, no need to get all steamed up.
Creature: Quark!
[Quark returns with the ale.]
Quark: Why are you talking to that duck?
Pythia: You mean it's not a Star Wars canteen-style weird-looking alien? I mean,
of course it isn't! I knew that all along, naturally.
Quark: I was going to paint it blue and pink and sell it off as a Rigelian parrot.
See, it sounds just like it can say my name. Good scam, eh?
Pythia: So, umm... you pronounce your name the same way a duck does, do you?
Not, purely by way of example, "Quork"?
Quark: [suddenly suspicious] Why the interest?
Pythia: Oh, nothing, nothing! It's not like anybody's paying me time travel
field research expenses or anything! [laughs nervously] I'm a, er, student of
phonetic linguistics, that's all.
Quark: Well, maybe you can explain something to me then. What's "rotherby"
mean?
Pythia: "Rotherby"?
Quark: Yeah. It's a verb, I think. It's in that song from "My Fair Lady".
This guy sings, "People stop and stare, they don't bother me. 'Cause there's
nowhere in the world that I would rotherby". It sounds like it's something
disgusting.
Pythia: It's a new one on me. I can find out if you like, but it'll cost you.
Quark: Hey, I'm not *that* keen to know the answer!
Pythia: Didn't think so. In that case, faq off.
[Enter Odo.]
Odo: [to Pythia] Is this Ferengi annoying you?
Pythia: [cunningly] Which Ferengi would that be?
Creature: Quark!
Pythia: I wasn't asking you.
Odo: [to Quark] Don't you know it's against regulations to keep wildlife on
the promenade deck?
Quark: It's not wild - it's very even-tempered!
Pythia: [sotto] Something tells me this assignment is going to go over budget.