10 Star Trek Quotes That Made Us Trekkies

Everyone knows and can celebrate the wonderfully ubiquitous "live long and prosper," all the while practising the dexterity-defying hand gesture that goes with it. Trekkies around the world are united by four letters alone — 'LLAP'. What a Star Trek fan will also know is that there exists a less familiar, but equally quotable counterpart to the Vulcan greeting — "peace and long life."

There are parts of the Internet that suggest that "peace and long life" was first said in Amok Time, but this is not true. Only "live long and prosper," and variation on, is given in that episode by Spock and T'Pau. The first time "peace and long life" was said on screen was, in fact, not by a Vulcan at all, but a human — Dr Miranda Jones (played by Diana Muldaur). The Doctor says the line to Spock as a form of goodbye on the transporter pad at the end of Is There in Truth No Beauty?, and he then replies, "live long and prosper."

Of course, what also makes the Trekkie a Trekkie is not just knowing those Vulcan sayings in Federation Standard but being able to give your best "live long and prosper" in the Vulcan language. That, transliterated and transcribed, is, naturally, "Dif-tor heh smusma," first heard in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.