What? No Elvish?

From the Oregonian article, there's nothing actually "urban legend" about the stuff that was crossed out on the Boingboing page. It's slightly misleading, to be sure, but I think we should restrict the use of the term "urban legend" to things that, like, you know, didn't actually happen. Unless the Oregonian is lying, Multnomah County really is looking for a Klingon interpreter to be on call, no joke.

It sounds like the case is, it's NOT an urban legend that someone said "lets throw this in as a role we could theoretically hire for, were a mental health client who had this need to come around." It probably IS an urban legend to think that it's an actual job opening, where someone is likely to get hired any time soon. (Despite Hathaway saying "There are some cases where we've had mental health patients where this was all they would speak" it doesn't sound like they have a pressing, actionable need, the next sentence in an early story was "in reality, no patient has yet tried to communicate in Klingon")

Yes. This Klingon story is not an urban legend. It was covered in the Oregonian on Saturday. They merely want someone to be available if they need someone to interpret for them.

Funny, it seemed real enough when I read the article in The Oregonian today.
 
Of course, they're only looking for someone to have on call, not to out-and-out hire someone.

Edited by author 05-11-2003 10:33 PM
From review for the "Daddy Day Care" movie at Salon.
http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/200...day_care/index.html

"Then the always-funny Steve Zahn steps into the mix: ... (he's the one who ascertains that one boy doesn't have a speech impediment but is actually speaking Klingon)."

Urban legend + media coverage = movie tripe.

Urban legend. See http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/5/11/7032/18347 and http://www.languagehat.com/archives/000588.php .