English wasn't my first language, Mormonese was. Mormonese is the language that Mormons use amongst themselves that is largely incomprehensible to everyone else. It includes words and concepts unique to Mormondom with a healthy dose of common words that mean something entirely different to most others.
We take Mormonese for granted because other Mormons understand us. Regular people don't. This causes no end of confusion especially in news coverage.
So, it is refreshing when some news writer goes to the trouble to truly understand us AND to explain us in terms understandable to others.
Kudos to Geoffrey Walter of the Mineola Patch for doing just that. His article, "Mormon Church Proposed at Old Salvation Army Building: LDS Church purchased site in October to house congregation" is a gem.
He accurately explains how we use our meetinghouses, what neighbors can expect, etc. If more writers attempted to be accurate in their coverage of Mormons we'd have less confusion in the world.
I'd like to extend my personal thanks to Mr. Walter for doing his homework. Now, if only the rest could follow his example.
Conversely, Mormons could do a better job of explaining themselves to others in terms that most people can understand. We need to do our homework too. Mormon writer, Orson Scott Card, probably isn't going to update his Mormon dictionary, "Saintspeak" anytime soon. We're on our own.
We take Mormonese for granted because other Mormons understand us. Regular people don't. This causes no end of confusion especially in news coverage.
So, it is refreshing when some news writer goes to the trouble to truly understand us AND to explain us in terms understandable to others.
Kudos to Geoffrey Walter of the Mineola Patch for doing just that. His article, "Mormon Church Proposed at Old Salvation Army Building: LDS Church purchased site in October to house congregation" is a gem.
He accurately explains how we use our meetinghouses, what neighbors can expect, etc. If more writers attempted to be accurate in their coverage of Mormons we'd have less confusion in the world.
I'd like to extend my personal thanks to Mr. Walter for doing his homework. Now, if only the rest could follow his example.
Conversely, Mormons could do a better job of explaining themselves to others in terms that most people can understand. We need to do our homework too. Mormon writer, Orson Scott Card, probably isn't going to update his Mormon dictionary, "Saintspeak" anytime soon. We're on our own.
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