Paraphrasing a familiar citation, I never met a word book I didn't like. I love words, I love grammar, I love everything having to do with language.

"The Language of the Mormon Pioneers" is, as its title states, a guide to some of the words used by the pioneers, words that are either unfamiliar to us, or whose meanings have changed over the years. Givens has done an excellent job pulling together citations from both well-known and obscure sources, offering explanations and definitions that inform and delight.

Let me give you a few examples. What does "Fudge!" mean?

An expression of the utmost contempt, usually bestowed on absurd or lying talkers.

In 1837, while on a missionary journey through the Midwest, George A. Smith encountered a minister of the Gospel who challenged him to prove the Book of Mormon by exhibiting the golden plates. Elder Smith reported that he replied, "Bring forward, sir, the original tablers of stone upon which God wrote with his own finger the ten commandments,...and I will exhibit the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated!" Brother Smith stated, "The reverend gentleman started for the door exclaiming at the top of his voice, 'Fudge! Fudge!! Fudge!!!!' as he passed the door." (p. 101)

Each entry is fully sourced; definitions, when possible, are taken from noted sources -- dictionaries, etc. The reader can go back to the original sources and see the context of each quotation.

Now, knowing the definition is just half the fun. There's more enjoyment in actually reading the quotes. Times have changed. Language changes. And the way we use language has changed. Pick up a volume of the Journal of Discourses, for example, and compare it to Conference talks today. You'll see what I mean.

Some of the entries are quite colorful. Take, for example, "Cankerworm":

The striped, green caterpillar of any of several geometrid moths that feed on the leaves of various trees, usually in the spring. Thus -- anything that corrupts or consumes.

In a discourse in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on April 7, 1862, George W. Smith warned the Saints: "This is what I labor and strive for. I can tell you, if you encourage a spirit of faultfinding and complaining, you will suffer a canker worm to gnaw at your vitals, to cause you to distrust everybody...Suffer these feelings to come into your bosoms, and they will speedily gain possession and gain control of the whole passion." (p. 37)

Now, if you say you already knew the meanings of "Fudge!," and "cankerworm," can you tell me what "roll pudding" is? What about "noggin"? Hint: it has nothing to do with your head.

In short, what you get in this book is not just a lexicon of sorts, but a welcome picture of a time when plain-speaking and colloquial expression were common and approved, a pre-Correlation period of verbal melees and brutal honesty.

This is a fine book, a very good effort by the author, who has written widely on the subject of Church history. If you like words, you're bound to like this book.

-----------------------------------

Jeff Needle
January 14, 2005