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

1. 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, Jack Womack, 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, Paul McAuley, 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, James Hold, 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, Terry Bisson, 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.