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Even better than the Lord’s Prayer in Klingon

The UK chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have translated the Bible into Polari. Polari is a mix of Yiddish, Arabic, Italian, Romany and Cockney, among other things. It began as a language between Mediterranean sailors and traders, but by the 19th c. or so had become a secret gay language–a way for queers to find and communicate with each other. That’s right, secret gay language! When that guy from Queer Eye talks about “zhuzzing” something, he’s using Polari.

A sample (Ex. 20:1-17) is below. The rest can be found here.

  1. And Gloria cackled all these lavs, cackling,
  2. I am the Duchess thy Gloria, which have lelled thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the lattie of bondage.
  3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
  4. Nanti make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any fakement that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the aqua under the earth:
  5. Nanti bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Duchess thy Gloria am a jealous Gloria, visiting the codness of the aunties upon the chavvies unto the trey and quarter generation of them that hate me;
  6. And shewing mercy unto milles of them that love me, and lell my butch lavs.
  7. Nanti lell the name of the Duchess thy Gloria in vain; for the Duchess will not hold him guiltless that lelleth his name in vain.
  8. Remember the sabbath day, to lell it fabulosa.
  9. Sey days shalt thou acting dickey, and do all thy acting dickey:
  10. But the setterth day is the sabbath of the Duchess thy Gloria: in it nanti do any acting dickey, thou, nor thy homie chavvie, nor thy palone chavvie, thy homieservant, nor thy palone servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
  11. For in sey days the Duchess made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and lettied the setterth day: wherefore the Duchess fabed the sabbath day, and bona it.
  12. Honour thy Auntie and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Duchess thy Gloria giveth thee.
  13. Nanti ferricadoza.
  14. Nanti commit adultery.
  15. Nanti sharper.
  16. Nanti bear false varda-ing fakement against thy homie ajax.
  17. 17 Nanti ogle thy homie ajax’s lattie, nanti ogle thy homie ajax’s palone affair, nor his homieservant, nor his palone servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any fakement that is thy homie ajax’s.

(Repost from Jerusalem Syndrome)

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