abolish formality, it is amusing that in English, and even more so in Portuguese, the words have come to be used among the Saints even more formally than the simple given name used alone. A nonmember (!) would take the word mnsecrate to mean "making (something) sacred," like consecrating a churchyard. We use dedicate for that Orson Scott Card purpose, and consecrate has come to replace donate when one is giving long history in the Christian something to the Lord, especially world-but Mormons are the only something great and difficult to part Saintspeak group that almost completely restricts with. Giving money to the Church or its meaning to the sacrament of the to BYU is still donating, however. Lord's Supper. Administer is another Mission and temple are both ripe "Alma's getting set apart right after example: "I asked the elders to come grounds for new meaningsand new sacrament meeting, which starts at administer to me." The phrase usages. Most churches send three-that's three-fifteen, Mormon "administer to" has become so missionaries out to the mission Standard Time. Will you be at the ubiquitous that it is rapidly replacing field-but only M~~~~~ ugo on a fireside?' the simple word administer in the mission" or "get a mission call." And If you understood that, you must be a phrase "administer the sacrament," our temple-centered society has given Mormon. giving us the absurdity "administer to ,is, to a distinction between going to the sacrament." When new converts come into the the temple and going through the Church, they face a greater challenge The fact that the priesthood is held by temple. If you ask someone if he has than all the new callings and all the most Mormon men has given rise to gone through the temple, you are new commandments put such usags as "the priesthood just asking whether he has ever received together-learning Saintspeak, the didn't show up at the Welfare his own endowment. If you ask him if language of Mormon society. Although farm"-meaning all the men in the he has gone to the temple, you take Saintspeak is based on English, the ward collectively. Calling, to most his own endowment for granted, and new vocabulary and the strange Christians, would refer to a lifetime are merely asking if he has gone to a usages of old words can be completely vocation or a conversion experience, normal session. However, as soon as baffling. while to the Saints it is simply the we know whose endowments we are latest in a flood of Church proxying for, we say we are going Mormon contributions to the English assignmen&. through the temple for him, giving the language came early. H. L. Mencken, strong phrasing again. Temple marriage in The American Language, credits early And what about Saint and gentile? It's is sought after by Mormons, but Saints on the frontier with the long been a standing joke that Salt unintelligble to non-Mormons, while invention of such coarse expressions as Lake City is the only place in the some related temple words are even "by hell" and "hellion." Apparently, world where a Jew is a gentile. But more baffling, like sealing. The general Mencken reasons, the Saints figured gentile is passing out of common use, word garments has also taken on a that if the Lord was offended by being the more innocuous special meaning to the Saints, and vulgar usage of his name, then non-Mormon and even by nonmember, because the word itself borrows some vulgarly referring to Satan's realm without any reference to of the sacredness of the object it refers would have the delightful result of what it is that the person has failed to to, often euphemisms are used, some offending the devil. be a member of. of which border on the disrespectful. But today, while more decorous than Many Christians address each other as we also make much of words based in earlier generations, Saintspeak is brother and sister, but I believe that on active. No one ever asks "active in even more impenetrable than ever the usage in the early Restored what?" We know we mean active in before. The jargon of the Latter-day Church-"Br0ther Joseph" and 'ISister the church. ~~~d,regularly attending Saints is a barrier between "us" and Emma"-is the way Saints are called active, while that class "themn-and that may not really be of using the terms in the outside world once known as jack-Mormons are now regrettable. Saintspeak helps to set us today. However, bl~rm~nshave taken called, more kindly but less colorfully, apart from the world and to bind us brother and sister to be replacements for inactive. The adjectives have shifted to together, another link in the chain that Mr. and Mrs. ., even to the point of become nouns,too: "He's an inactive" we call Mormon culture. abbreviating them BY. and Sis. or Sr., is a perfectly understandable and and most of the time the words are acceptable sentence. Active/inactive has And whether Saintspeak is good or followed by the last name rather than bad, it's with us to stay. In some thatgiven a rise to semi-active, which means by the first. 1 found in Brazil that this comes to church cases, it's completely unavoidable. In extended to even greater extremes other cases, it's downright hilarious. sometimes and doesn't get drunk often among the Portuguese-speaking while those who drift away from the Saints: The formal word for you in Church are said to "go inactive." New Wine in Old Bottles Portuguese is 0 senhor or a senhorn (lit. Reclaiming lost souls used to be called By far the largest category of the lord or the lady); the Saints have activating, but now the word Saintspeak is the words and phrases now replaced the old word for you reactivating is dominant. that already exist in English, but that with the expression o irmao or a irma Mormons use with special meanings. (the brother or the sister). Since the use Of course, one of the ripest fields for For instance, the word sacrament has a of brother and sister originated to plucking unusual Mormon meanings 25 Sunstone for good old words is the area of interchangeably. Revelation and callings in and divisions of the inspiration are radically different, with Church. Catholics would hardly inspiration much more common and recognize a similarity between our much less binding-if you claim to deacons and bishops and theirs, while receive inspiration, no one bats an eye, we have used the word elder to refer to but if you claim to receive revelation men eighteen and older who haven't you had better qualify the term and yet risen to the highest priesthood call it personal revelations. Revelation is offices. It is arguable that home teacher the business of prophets, seers, and and visiting teacher have risen to the revelators. status of new compound words in the Which brings us to one of the most Mormon lexicon, while bishopric has absurd distinctions. I have heard many been twisted almost beyond a desperately learned discourse trying recognition. Non-Mormons to prove that prophets are people who understand the word to mean the area see the future, seers are people who over which a bishop presides or the 'Y have the Urim and Thummim or who actual office of bishop, while we use at least see both the future and the ward to mean the former and have no past, and revelators are those who pass adequate term for the latter (though I WOULD on the Lord's dicta to the Church. In have heard bishophood from time to actual usage, of course, there is no time). To us, bishopric means the such regular distinction, and the bishop and his counselors themselves, LIKE scriptures make hash of any such and "member of the bishopric" is a sophistry. We often do that to more high-flown phrase for first or ourselves, of course-find some words second counselor. TO that are used a lot and try to assign Our geographic divisions are also special meanings to them, thereby based on old words with new hoping to discover hidden truths in meanings. Stake arose from the the scripture. That has been done far metaphor of Zion being a tent, with STAND too often with light and truth and with the stakes being the firm posts that "Spirit of God" and "Holy Spirit," not support it; hence, stakes of Zion. Wards, to mention "spirit of Christ.' Usually, of course, were divisions of a city, as BEFORE of course, all the speaker or writer in New York; when Brigham Young really wants to do is point out that laid out Salt Lake City, he followed there are some different ideas meant the normal pattern and divided it into by all the terms-but the scriptures YOU" make no effort to follow the wards like any other city with a lot of hope for the future. However, he distinctions our modern medievalists departed from the practice Joseph try to manufacture. Smith had followed, and instead of Sustain has acquired the new meaning having one bishop per stake, and no of "lifting one's hand in sacrament stake president (just a president of the v meeting lo indicate consent." Many high council), he created the office of speakers try very hard to change that stake president and demoted bishops meaning to "indicating a vow to to be judges and administrators over support this action in every way individual wards.