# Speaking Elvish for Pentecost **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235 "2012-05-17T18:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/21 "2012-05-18T03:22:31Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > But, but, we can’t risk anything that might resemble glossolalia–someone might think we were Pentecostalists. Ayup. Punchline of an old joke: “Shhh sir, this is the Episcopal Church! This is NO place to have the ‘spirit move you’!” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/22 "2012-05-18T03:34:55Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > …Our congregation does the readings simultaneously, not concurrently, to give an idea of the confusion the first hearers of the Word heard when the Holy Spirit “lit up” the disciples… That’s how we usually do it, too. A little different this year. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/23 "2012-05-18T06:27:04Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I’ll be reading in Korean come Pentecost! > > I don’t really speak it anymore, other than a few phrases. But han-gul is phonetic, and I have a Korean New Testament. So I can go to the correct verses, write it out phonetically in Roman script, and hope no Koreans are there to hear my terrible accent. This got way clearer once my bleary eyes realized the word was not “Koran”. 😃 > [@Baker](#): > > Our congregation does the readings simultaneously, not concurrently, to give an idea of the confusion the first hearers of the Word heard when the Holy Spirit “lit up” the disciples. And the difference between “simultaneous” and “concurrent” would be…? 😉 Ideally to get the proper Pentecost experience there should be native speakers of all these languages in your congregation, so that all manner of foreigners are suddenly hearing God’s word in their native language, as it happened then. Even without, though, this sounds pretty cool. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/24 "2012-05-18T08:16:54Z")
Ah, Malacandra, I meant consecutive!:smack: ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/25 "2012-05-18T10:58:31Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Waitaminnit, what’s all this nonsense about using actual **languages?! That** ain’t [glossolalia!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossolalia) Not even if it’s Elvish or Klingon! Yes, and if you read the Pentecost story in the Acts of the Apostles, glossolalia is exactly what did not happen. The Apostles began to speak in languages they did not know, and the people around them could understand them. They weren’t speaking nonsense and claiming it was the language of the angels, they were speaking real languages without ever having to learn them. As a language geek and a nine-year Catholic school veteran, this misinterpretation of “speaking in tongues” vaguely bothers me, even though as an atheist I really shouldn’t give a fig. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/26 "2012-05-18T11:44:48Z")
Can you do it in the binary language of moisture vaperators? ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/27 "2012-05-18T13:18:31Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Onda means stone in Quenya. It also means ‘evil’ in Swedish! -Olentzero, who absolutely refuses to learn the _Internationale_ in Klingon. I have my limits… ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/28 "2012-05-18T14:09:49Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > Can you do it in the binary language of moisture vaperators? Of course! I once did it in the language of Binary Load Lifters, very similar to Vaporators. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/29 "2012-05-18T14:48:13Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Awesome! > > You could consider substituting Onda for Peter, since Onda means stone in Quenya. > > Let’s hear how it’s received, after the event! But the different words meaning Peter are not the words meaning stone in each language, and there are many languages (English among them) where the name derives from the name in another language and not from the word meaning stone; in the different versions of the Bible I’m familiar with, Peter is only called Stone in the story about where he got his nick. Add me to the list of people who hear of someone speaking uncomprehensibly getting commingled with what happened to the Apostles and goes :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/30 "2012-05-18T15:29:50Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > But the different words meaning Peter are not the words meaning stone in each language, and there are many languages (English among them) where the name derives from the name in another language and not from the word meaning stone; in the different versions of the Bible I’m familiar with, Peter is only called Stone in the story about where he got his nick. A more idomatic English nickname for Peter would be “Rocky.” My Episcopal church is pretty cool but I don’t recall us doing the multiple-language Pentecost readings before. I might suggest it for next year. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/31 "2012-05-18T18:37:21Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > A more idomatic English nickname for Peter would be “Rocky.” thus the 4th volume of Gospel of Peter\* telling the tale of his fight in the Colisseum against the famous Roman Gladiator “Dracus”. \*possibly apocryphal ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/32 "2012-05-18T18:43:27Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Yes, and if you read the Pentecost story in the Acts of the Apostles, glossolalia is exactly what did not happen. The Apostles began to speak in languages they did not know, and the people around them could understand them. They weren’t speaking nonsense and claiming it was the language of the angels, they were speaking real languages without ever having to learn them. > > As a language geek and a nine-year Catholic school veteran, this misinterpretation of “speaking in tongues” vaguely bothers me, even though as an atheist I really shouldn’t give a fig. Hm. So, it’s really the Pentecostals who are doing it wrong! (But their way looks more fun . . . spiritually speaking . . . That dude in _Borat,_ man, what was he **on?!)** ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/33 "2012-05-18T19:21:00Z")
But we draw the line at snake-handling. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/34 "2012-05-18T19:56:02Z")
We are doing the same in my (Lutheran) church. I am doing either German, or Greek. Other languages represented will be French, Spanish, Baya (however it is spelled - our pastor was a missionary for twelve years in Cameroon), Norwegian, Swedish, and Mandarin Chinese. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/35 "2012-05-18T19:59:30Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > But we draw the line at snake-handling. [insert your own dick joke here] ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/36 "2012-05-18T19:59:39Z")
And here I was picturing you reading a Bible passage with an Elvis accent. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/37 "2012-05-18T20:00:55Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Yes, and if you read the Pentecost story in the Acts of the Apostles, glossolalia is exactly what did not happen. The Apostles began to speak in languages they did not know, and the people around them could understand them. They weren’t speaking nonsense and claiming it was the language of the angels, they were speaking real languages **without ever having to learn them.** Hey, waitaminnit . . . **Elendil’s Heir** is **cheating!** :mad: God will get you for this . . . ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/38 "2012-05-18T20:04:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Flodnak** : > > Yes, and if you read the Pentecost story in the Acts of the Apostles, glossolalia is exactly what did not happen. The Apostles began to speak in languages they did not know, and the people around them could understand them. They weren’t speaking nonsense and claiming it was the language of the angels, they were speaking real languages without ever having to learn them. It goes further than that, even. People with different languages were all hearing the _same speech_, each in their own language. Which is of course impossible absent a miracle, but I’d say that the OP’s church’s approach of speaking in a large number of languages consecutively is probably about as close an approximation as you can get non-miraculously. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/39 "2012-05-18T20:25:14Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > And here I was picturing you reading a Bible passage with an Elvis accent. Thankyouverymuch, sayeth the Lord. Jesus has left the building. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235/40 "2012-05-18T20:45:14Z")
If I could talk about reading a different Scripture, I once read, in church, the second chapter of Luke. And it was in the King James Version. On my deathbed I’m going to regret that, when I finished reading I used the standard phrase “Here ends the lesson”. I resisted the temptation to look out at the congregation and say “And that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-elvish-for-pentecost/622235.md?page=3)