Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[organica]

Can we replace the sentence, "Let's put our hands together to praise the Lord," with "Let's clap our hands to praise the Lord." in colloquial English?

Thank you.

[redset]

Well clapping is putting your hands together quickly, then separating them and repeating this movement over and over - which is where the phrase 'put your hands together' comes from. When Christians pray they often put their hands together, with the palms flat and the fingers either flat or clasped together, so I'd assume the sentence refers to this and not clapping. People in gospel churches often clap and enjoy themselves though, so without any context I guess it could mean either! I think literally putting their hands together to pray would be the safest assumption though

[redset]

Oh, in colloquial English you could say 'let's join hands' or 'let's join our hands' if they're putting their hands together to pray. (Which can also mean holding hands with someone next to you - not usually during prayer though!) I'm sure there are other phrases, maybe someone else knows a few. I'm not sure how colloquial it is though - prayer tends to be quite formal, in my experience at least.

[organica]

Thank you, Redset, for the quick reply.

Is there other expressions than "let's clap hands" during singing gaspel?

[redset]

Not that I know of - clapping can mean clapping musically or simply applauding something, but clapping hands is usually meant in the musical/rhythmical sense, and I can't think of any other phrases right now. There may be others though.