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Does anyone remember the sermon in which Joseph Smith kept using foreign phrases? I believe he would say the foreign phrase and say "which is to say"... or "as the (blank) would say".

Hmmmm... nope, I don't know.

So is this totally trivial trivia? Or is it trivia with a punch line?

It's pretty trivial trivia, although I thought it was one of the funniest things I'd ever read. I do admit it kind of reminds me of someone on this board (about which one of my recent jokes fell flat).

Beastie, try looking for his Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys. My favorite line is "Were I a Chaldean I would exclaim: Keed' nauh to-maroon lehoam elauhayaugh deyshemayaugh veh aur kau lau gnaubadoo, yabadoo ma-ar'guauoomen tehoat shemayaugh alah."

LOL... Zax

I thought you were kidding!

An Egyptian: Sa e eh-ni: (What other persons are these?) A Grecian: Diabolas basseleuei: (The Devil reigns.) A Frenchman: Messieurs sans Dieu, (Gentkemen without Go.) A Turk: Ain shems: (The fountain of light.) A german: sie sind unferstandig. (What consumate ignorance!) A Syrian: Zaubok. (Sacrifice!) A Spaniard: Il sabio muda conscio, il nescio ne. (A wise man reflects, a fool does not.) A Samaritian: Saunau! (O Stranger!) An Italian: O tempa! oh diffidanza! (O the times! O the diffidence!) A Hebrew: Ajtaij aol raicu (Thou God seest me.) A Dane: Hvnd tidende! (What tidings!) A Saxon: Hwaet riht! (What right!) A Swede: Hvad skilla: (What skill!) A Polander: Nav-yen-wheo bah poa na Jesus Christus: (Blessed be the name of Jesus Christ.) A Western Indian: She-mo-kah She-mo keh ough-nepgab. (The white man, O the white man, he very uncertain.) A Roman: Procul, o procul este profani! (Be off, be off ye profane!) But as I am I will only add: when the wicked rule the people mourn.


Here is the link!

This part is a laugher, too. In response to his appeal:

To show our great learning, after the fashion of the "Appeal," -- were we a Vermonter, we would say: Boowoo waugh! Josephi. -- (You can't come it Josey!) Were we a Turk, we would say: Noah shah Mahomet. (You can't act Mahomet.) Or a Western Indian, we would yell: Che-mo-ko-mon, Jo-Smith-e-kuk hah ug! (White man, Joe Smith, very unsartin.) But as we are, we shall only say: Some men are fools by nature; and others are fools for lucre.

truth dancer wrote:An Egyptian: Sa e eh-ni: (What other persons are these?) A Grecian: Diabolas basseleuei: (The Devil reigns.) A Frenchman: Messieurs sans Dieu, (Gentkemen without Go.) A Turk: Ain shems: (The fountain of light.) A german: sie sind unferstandig. (What consumate ignorance!) A Syrian: Zaubok. (Sacrifice!) A Spaniard: Il sabio muda conscio, il nescio ne. (A wise man reflects, a fool does not.) A Samaritian: Saunau! (O Stranger!) An Italian: O tempa! oh diffidanza! (O the times! O the diffidence!) A Hebrew: Ajtaij aol raicu (Thou God seest me.) A Dane: Hvnd tidende! (What tidings!) A Saxon: Hwaet riht! (What right!) A Swede: Hvad skilla: (What skill!) A Polander: Nav-yen-wheo bah poa na Jesus Christus: (Blessed be the name of Jesus Christ.) A Western Indian: She-mo-kah She-mo keh ough-nepgab. (The white man, O the white man, he very uncertain.) A Roman: Procul, o procul este profani! (Be off, be off ye profane!) But as I am I will only add: when the wicked rule the people mourn.
Here is the link!

Having little to no experiences with language outside of English (except for the one line of Adamic I learned and repeated in the temple (three times), can anyone tell me if he got any of it right?

Thanks,

Chris <><

truth dancer wrote:LOL... Zax

I thought you were kidding.

It is a real gem! I had it on my sig line for a little while at FAIR, but it kept generating off-topic comments.

Christopher - I don't know much beyond English, either, but I think most of the phrases are somewhat reasonable translations. Not because Joseph Smith knew the languages, but because he (or W.W. Phelps who may have written much of the letter) liked collecting foreign phrases. Apparently the Chaldean phrase was copied out of a Hebrew primer that happened to have one "Chaldean" (whatever that language is) phrase in it.

As can be seen from the response, whether correct or not, the attempt to impress came across about as silly to the recipients as it does now.

NorthboundZax wrote:

truth dancer wrote:LOL... Zax
Apparently the Chaldean phrase was copied out of a Hebrew primer that happened to have one "Chaldean" (whatever that language is) phrase in it.

As can be seen from the response, whether correct or not, the attempt to impress came across about as silly to the recipients as it does now.

The phrase is Aramaic(Chaldean) and is Jeremiah 10:11. It not a magical translation using the U&T but something taken from a common grammar book. Clearly the intention here is for Joseph to impress the Green Mountains boys with his amazing grasp of languages (both real and imaginary).


Phaedrus

That's IT!!! Zax, you're a genius... or at least the master of Joseph Smith Trivia.

I've got to save that one for future reference. Thanks so much!!!!

by the way, I confess this had a punchline.