Spider Pass (Frodo's Elvish)

So, I was working today trying to correctly sequence all the typescripts of the chapters towards the end of LotR Book IV and was struck by something that I'd never thought about before.

Tolkien goes to great lengths to build suspense for the disaster at Cirith Ungol. Several times in the chapters leading up to it he avoids giving its name or otherwise suggests that its name is of deep significance.

Finally Faramir tells Frodo the name -- and it means nothing to him. Similarly Faramir confesses ignorance of its actual meaning.

But we've long been told that Frodo speaks Elvish. Or were the elves of Woody End and elsewhere simply being polite, hailing Frodo as possessing a fluency he simply didn't command? We know that Bilbo has great skill in Elvish. By contrast, is Frodo's grasp of Elvish limited to one or two polite phrases? Is this one sphere in which Bilbo outshines his nephew?

Certainly there's no suggestion that 'Ungol' (spider) is difficult or obscure.

So, slightly puzzling. Going to have to give this one more thought.

--John R.
current reading: 42 YEARS IN THE WHITE HOUSE by Ike Hoover