# The Slinky Cult **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 21, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514 "2011-03-21T21:08:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/1 "2011-03-21T21:08:18Z")
Regarding [Did the Inventor of Slinky join a cult in Bolivia](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2312/did-the-inventor-of-the-slinky-join-a-cult-in-bolivia)column: According to his wiki, the religious organization that Slinky inventor [Richard James](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_T._James)became involved with was the [Wycliffe Bible Translators](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wycliffe_Bible_Translators), an organization that finds its way into a lot of conspiracy theories as it’s rumored to be a CIA front. IIRC, there was some South American leader who fell down a flight of stairs under suspicious circumstances; I fonder if he did so slowly and hitting every step on the way down. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/2 "2011-03-21T23:04:01Z")
He probably only hit one or two steps, then rolled the rest of the way… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/3 "2011-03-22T03:37:55Z")
The Wycliffe Bible Translators aren’t a cult, and there’s no reason to think that they are a C.I.A. front either. The Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics, a closely related organizations, send out people to areas where there are obscure languages with no writing systems and no literature in the language available. These people (who are usually referred to as missionaries, although their job is different from most missionaries) spend several years with thise groups. The missionaries are trained in linguistics, particularly in what’s called field linguistics. They work with the speakers of these languages until they understand the phonology, the grammar, the morphology, the semantics, and the vocabulary of the language well enough that they can write an introductory textbook on the language, a dictionary, and, most importantly, a translation of the Bible into that language. These (so-called) missionaries are told specifically that their job is not to waste their time trying to convert the speakers of these languages. Their job is to prepare the way for future missionaries who will do that. Once they have done sufficient work on the grammar, the dictionary, and the Bible translation, they return to their native country, possibly to be sent on to another language area doing the same thing again. For some interesting insight on these people, you might want to read Daniel Everett’s book, _Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes_. He’s hardly a tremendous fan of the organization, since he slowly decided that he was an atheist. You might decide that these people are naive, misguided, or stupid from reading Everett’s book, but they aren’t evil or part of some weird conspiracy: > **[Daniel Everett](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Everett)** > > Daniel Leonard Everett (born 26 July 1951) is an American linguist and author best known for his study of the Amazon basin's Pirahã people and their language. > Everett is currently Trustee Professor of Cognitive Sciences at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. From July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2018, Everett served as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Bentley. Prior to Bentley University, Everett was chair of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Illinois State University in Nor... ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/4 "2011-03-22T03:48:13Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner] You might decide that these people are naive, misguided, or stupid from reading Everett’s book, but they aren’t evil or part of some weird conspiracy: [/QUOTE] They seem no more cultish than the Gideons. That’s why I used the phrase “religious organization” and qualified the CIA front rumors as rumors. I think that would be a ridiculous ruse for the CIA since the main places they’d be likely to need moles in South America would be cities and military bases and not tribes so remote the Bible hasn’t been translated into their language. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/5 "2011-03-22T21:16:23Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > They seem no more cultish than the Gideons. That’s why I used the phrase “religious organization” and qualified the CIA front rumors as rumors. I think that would be a ridiculous ruse for the CIA since the main places they’d be likely to need moles in South America would be cities and military bases and not tribes so remote the Bible hasn’t been translated into their language. On the other hand, it’s a great strategy for getting a lot of really good field linguistics done for free! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/6 "2011-03-23T00:34:21Z")
These people produce _Ethnologue_, among other things. This is a website and a book with the same information which catalogs the languages of the world. It’s about as close to a definitive account of the world’s languages as you can get: > **[the world](https://www.ethnologue.com/)** > > Find, read about, and research all 7,168 living languages. Ethnologue is the ultimate source of information on the world's languages. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/7 "2018-09-11T23:49:25Z")
The Slinky article is again on the front page, so I’ll post a link to the Wiki page. > **[Slinky](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slinky)** > > The Slinky is a precompressed\[clarification needed\] helical spring toy invented by Richard T. James in the early 1940s. It can perform a number of tricks, including travelling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its own momentum, or appear to levitate for a period of time after it has been dropped. These interesting characteristics have contributed to its success as a toy in its home country of the United States, resulting in many po... It discusses the Wycliffe Bible Translators, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/8 "2018-09-12T14:46:50Z")
It must be a very small and secret cult because I haven’t seen a slinky for more years than I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/9 "2018-09-12T16:22:01Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > It must be a very small and secret cult because I haven’t seen a slinky for more years than I can remember. We buy them every Xmas for stocking stuffers. Also “The Slinky Cult”: band name! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/10 "2018-09-12T16:48:10Z")
If you put the words “In what stores are Slinkys sold?” into Google, you’ll get a huge list of places local to you where it’s sold. It’s not a high-profit item, so it’s not prominently displayed. It’s sold in places like dollar stores, drug stores, low-end department stores, and some shops doing just random items. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/11 "2018-09-12T17:39:01Z")
You can get them at any Wal-Mart. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/13 "2018-09-14T00:44:51Z")
Some people are like slinkys, they are no fun until you push them down the stairs… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slinky-cult/575514/14 "2018-09-18T00:19:42Z")
And, here, I had always thought that the inventor of the Slinky was named [Loopner](https://disabledtvcharactersblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/saturday-night-live-3/). 😉