Theocratese

Every social group uses language that is unique to the group. Linguists call this sociolect. Many years ago someone, probably with tongue-in-cheek, coined the language, phrases and terms used by Jehovah's Witnesses, "Theocratese."

Theocratese will be easily recognized by active and former Jehovah's Witnesses and it is hoped that for those unfamiliar with these terms that what is presented here will be useful to your understanding of Jehovah's Witnesses.

In 1995, an Arizona elder, Lynn David Newton, created the HyperGlossary of American English Hacker Theocratese, a seminal compilation of theocratese and freely distributed it upon the Internet and in printed form.  Apparently, Newton maintained and updated the glossary until 2000 and what has become of him, this author doesn't know, yet it remains a very useful reference.

Presented here for posterity and for your edification, and in accord with the original redistribution policy,* is the one and only:

*Please note: The terms of redistribution called for reproduction without any modifications to the original document.  Unfortunately, due to changes and "bad referral" pages of some of the original links, this is not completely optimal.  In those few instances where I have removed the hyperlink, I have chosen to display the original linked text in red.

While Newton's Glossary is outstanding, I couldn't help but notice that there were a few omissions.  The following are my additions to Theocratese which addresses these omissions and also brings the Glossary up-to-date.