Most Formal Word Choice in Prayer Pleaseth God

[_subgenius]

The idea that God would look more favorably on a supplicant who uses obsolete Elizabethan English rather than modern English is indeed "utter pious claptrap."

The point is not by what God hears but by what you say and the influence it has on your focus, on your intention.
It is as simple as being deliberate when one does not use profanity, when otherwise profanity may be a regular course on the menu of their temporal discussions.
A good example is the moderation of these forums...the Celestial excludes certain phrases and comments because it creates a different discourse...a discourse that has been wisely associated with "Celestial" as opposed to what one will experience in Telestial.

[_ludwigm]

As far as it is (can be!) translated correctly...

A little information from T–V distinction (with reference to the initial letters of these pronouns in Latin, tu and vos)

In German, the respectful form is the same as the third person plural (sie), rather than the second person plural (which in German is ihr). The second person sense is always capitalized (Sie) in writing, in its nominative as well as its accusative and dative forms, to avoid any ambiguity.
...
In general terms, du is used to children, animals and God, and between adults (or between adults and children) who are good friends with or closely related to each other. Sie is used in other situations, such as in a business situation or where no existing relationship exists.

How can be translated the English pronoun/adjective/determiner system to German?


One step forward:
Hungarian language has a four-tiered system for expressing levels of politeness.
I don't explicate it - nobody would read. You can read it here and here.
How could it fit to the English variations?


It is not a wonder, some Liahona (the only magazine in H.) article contains involuntary jokes...
The writers horizon ends at border of Utah - Utahn Mormon English - the Hungarian translators (exception proves the rule, I know one exception) don't have enough English linguistic background.

[_Albion]

Tobin's standard response to issues appears to be: "You don't know what you are talking about, but I do." Personally, I could care less about the grammar usage and more about the fact that the use of thee and thou and such are from an obsolete language and I give God more credit as a God of the here and now. I think the Christian God cares less about the words we use when he hears from us than the fact that he hears from us in the first place.

[_Tobin]

Tobin's standard response to issues appears to be: "You don't know what you are talking about, but I do." Personally, I could care less about the grammar usage and more about the fact that the use of thee and thou and such are from an obsolete language and I give God more credit as a God of the here and now. I think the Christian God cares less about the words we use when he hears from us than the fact that he hears from us in the first place.

I think a little education would do you a world of good Albion. You might understand English and the scriptures a bit better as a result.

[_Albion]

One or two points, Tobin. Firstly, I have not problem understanding English and did in fact make my living using it for a very long time. Secondly, your running away from discussion of scripture and falling back on the excuse that you somehow have a better understanding than anyone else is not evidence of any superior knowledge. Thirdly, the topic under discussion has nothing to do with either understanding English or scripture and everything to do with you defending the use of obsolete word usage. Even today in the mother country of the language a number of words and expressions are still used that would be considered old fashioned or obsolete by American English standards, but even there you find no one using seventeenth century English to communicate. And why should they? This is the twenty first century for goodness sake. Your argument is without foundation on any basis in reality.

[_Tobin]

One or two points, Tobin. Firstly, I have not problem understanding English and did in fact make my living using it for a very long time. Secondly, your running away from discussion of scripture and falling back on the excuse that you somehow have a better understanding than anyone else is not evidence of any superior knowledge. Thirdly, the topic under discussion has nothing to do with either understanding English or scripture and everything to do with you defending the use of obsolete word usage. Even today in the mother country of the language a number of words and expressions are still used that would be considered old fashioned or obsolete by American English standards, but even there you find no one using seventeenth century English to communicate. And why should they? This is the twenty first century for goodness sake. Your argument is without foundation on any basis in reality.

I'm not going to argue with someone as poorly informed as you are. Apparently your opinion that 2nd person singular prounouns are NOT still used in England is a tad bit, well - what's the word?!? IGNORANT!!! It is also still used in some communities in North America as well.

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/25288/in-what-region-is-thou-etc-used-in-dialect

[_Morley]

I'm not going to argue with someone as poorly informed as you are. Apparently your opinion that 2nd person singular prounouns are NOT still used in England is a tad bit, well - what's the word?!? IGNORANT!!! It is also still used in some communities in North America as well.

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/25288/in-what-region-is-thou-etc-used-in-dialect

The word you is a second-person singular pronoun, Tobin.

[_moksha]

One step forward:
Hungarian language has a four-tiered system for expressing levels of politeness.
I don't explicate it - nobody would read. You can read it here and here.
How could it fit to the English variations?

It would be neat if Hungarian had a pillow-talk level which would be equivalent of the English term "Sweetie Pie". Clearly that prayer usage would be reserved for those praised men who commune with Athena.

[_ludwigm]

Hungarian language has a four-tiered system for expressing levels of politeness.
I don't explicate it - nobody would read. You can read it here and here.
How could it fit to the English variations?

It would be neat if Hungarian had a pillow-talk level which would be equivalent of the English term "Sweetie Pie".

Sorry, no match.

Different languages are stupid in different ways.
Anyway, our one beats Yours.

[_Drifting]

Those in the English speaking LDS Church know that we should emulate the language of the King James Bible as being the proper and most reverential way to address prayers to God. Using modern English pronouns is not the way to go. Good LDS prayers in other languages should also use the most formalistic wording it there is a choice.

But, what if those jaunty translators of the King James Bible threw in some jazzy hepcat talk from the first years of the 1600's? Think how this would seem disrespectful to God who may still have been used to Middle English as the correct form of prayer.

O ye souerens þat sytt and ye brothern þat stonde ryght wppe,
Pryke not yowr felycytes in thyngys transytorye.
Beholde not þe erth, but lyfte yowr ey wppe.
Se how þe hede þe members dayly do magnyfye.
Who ys þe hede forsoth I xall yow certyfye:
I mene Owr Sauyowr, þat was lykynnyde to a lambe;
Ande hys sayntys be þe members þat dayly he doth satysfye
Wyth þe precyose reuer þat runnyth from hys wombe.
Ther ys non such foode, be water nor by londe,
So precyouse, so gloryouse, so nedefull to owr entent,
For YouTube hath dyssoluyde mankynde...

I was wondering if perhaps this older form of English could be tried out at BYU devotionals as the language of prayer choice. Let's see empirically if the quests for moisture and finding lost car keys shows significance with a battery of statistical tests.

by the way, what do other churches do in terms of using pleasing words in their prayers?

Are there non English alternatives for those countries hindered by not having King James style oration as part of their language?