This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

Not everyone is familiar with the strange but endearing ways of Latter-day Saints, but they definitely have some character traits that set them apart from most. Even if you didn’t grow up in Utah, most Mormon families are more than familiar with the following six cultural trends:

1. Innocent 'bad' words

If your home growing up was a place where “fart” was a bad word, you might be a Mormon. Although not every Mormon was taught not to say crude words, most experienced some type of innocent word being outlawed. The offending words (aside from regular swear words) could include but aren’t limited to the following: “fart, butt, shut up, stupid, crap, suck,” etc.

2. Strange foods

Despite what some might say, Mormons have a strange affinity for abnormal food combinations. If every family gathering you went to included a casserole dish of green (or some other type) of Jell-O with carrot shavings in it, you likely grew up in a Mormon family. In addition to gelatin desserts with random vegetables snuck in, you might have enjoyed funeral potatoes and “Better Than Whatever” cake.

3. Mormon acronyms

Most people are bamboozled by the seemingly endless collection of acronyms common in Mormon vernacular. But, if you grew up Mormon, you’re likely not going to have any trouble deciphering the following common acronyms also known as Mormon-ese:

FHE (family home evening)

MTC (missionary training center)

BYC (bishop’s youth committee)

D&C/BOM (Doctrine and Covenants/Book of Mormon)

DI (Deseret Industries)

YSA (young single adult)

WoW (Word of Wisdom)

RM (returned missionary)

EFY (especially for youth)

CTR (choose the right)

MoTab (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)

4. Catchy tunes

Music is a huge part of the Mormon culture and worship, so it only makes sense that certain songs are well-known throughout the worldwide Mormon community. Non-Mormons might not get excited when they hear “Popcorn Popping,” or “Scripture Power,” but these songs and other Primary (Sunday School portion of Mormon worship for young children) classics will always get a rousing response from anyone that grew up singing the songs each Sunday at church.

5. Caffeine controversy

It’s commonly known that Mormons abstain from alcoholic beverages as well as coffee and tea, but fewer non-Mormons know that even caffeinated soda is up for debate. According to the Word of Wisdom (the Mormon law of health including dietary restrictions), “…as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good…” Some Mormons claim that this scripture along with other urgings from church leaders includes any caffeinated beverage within the list of off-limit substances. So if you were raised to say Sprite was OK but Dr Pepper wasn’t, then chances are you grew up Mormon.

6. Sunday movies

Sundays are often a day to relax and enjoy some time off. However, most Mormons believe they should not engage in typical outdoor recreation, work, or spending on Sundays, so other forms of entertainment take place. One such form of entertainment that seems to be sanctioned for the Sabbath is The Living Scriptures videos, which take scriptural stories from the Mormon scripture canon and turn them into cartoon movies for kids.

Because the movies are stories straight from the scriptures used by Mormons, most Mormon kids grew up watching these pleasing videos on Sunday, for FHE and more.

If you still want your kids to enjoy the scriptural stories and lessons taught in these videos, know that you can stream the videos to your devices instantly at the click of a button. Learn more at www.livingscriptures.com today.

First month for $5 with the coupon code "KSL".

×