The language of the Tamarians, or Children of Tama, which conveys meaning only through references to figures and events from their mythology and so defeats the universal translator.
The Tamarian language communicates through allusion. Its speakers do not state a thing directly. They cite a moment from their myths and history that stands for it, so that an image of two heroes meeting on an island means cooperation against a common danger. The universal translator renders the words but not their sense.
It is the subject of Darmok in 2368. After repeated failures to talk, the Tamarian captain Dathon has himself and Jean-Luc Picard beamed to El-Adrel IV, where a dangerous creature roams. Fighting it side by side, Picard starts to grasp the metaphors. Dathon dies of his wounds, and Picard uses the phrases he has learned to prevent a battle.
Lower Decks returns to the language through Lieutenant Kayshon, a Tamarian officer aboard the USS Cerritos.