God damn it! and other exclamations

A little lighter fare for discussion. This is perhaps a petty thing but I've made conscious efforts to get rid of things like "God damn it" "Holy (fill in blank)" "Jesus Christ!" when I'm surprised, injure myself (stub my toe etc...) or suddenly outraged.

Usually I can accomplish this with "sh-t" "that sucks" blah blah but only when I have a moment to think. I'll still let out a "god damn it" when I stub my toe more often than not.

What (if anything) do you all do? And what level of success?

"Oh my god" and "bless you" when someone sneezes.

if anything.

I guess I say, "Oh, wow," or "Oh, my," because I'm stopping myself from adding, "god." As far as when someone sneezes, I say nothing. That's why it feels rude, because I was raised to say it the same as you say, "You're welcome" after someone says, "Thank you." But I remind myself that it's just a sneeze -- what makes it different from a cough?

As far as "god-damned," I picked up the habit of saying "dad-gum" or "dad-gummit" years ago but when I'm really pissed, I still say "god-dammit."

Holy Mother of a Liberal Jew!
Cracks up my catholic acquaintainces...

I guess out of habit. :shrug:

But I do give the F-bomb quite the workout, too.

In fact, when I first joined DU, I would put people on "Ignore" who used the F-word. Then I realized that there are worse offenses and I cleaned out my "Ignore" file and rarely use it any more. Now that I'm less sensitive to it, I find myself using the word more myself and having to catch myself! Thanks, DU! :D

Denying that our culture and society are soaked with godspeak is simply spiting our own nose. God is an explitive for me in situations. The words to my mind convey emotion. So when I wish to express extreme emotions I naturally use them.

I just remind myself that if we were in ancient Greece, we'd be saying "Zeus dammit!"

The nice Jewish lady I work with has finally quit saying "God bless you" when I sneeze. Now she limits herself to "bless you."

Those I know and are friendly with I simply tell them when they say "bless you" is "that doesn't work on me".

I also offer them when they sneeze the atheist response "Sneeze acknowledged". They get a kick out of it.

I do not say "God Bless You" when someone sneezes.

but that has some of my pagan background involved in my decision to allow that part of speech.

(No - I have no idea why I say that)

In WI, you're more likely to hear Gesundheit that "God bless you."

I hope you all don't mind me contributing to this group.

I come in peace, most sincerely.

Cheese

"God bless you." So I'll have to start saying it again and then I won't feel so rude ignoring the sneeze. Thanks! :D

Honestly, it really does border on blasphemy, to casually throw out God's name.

I dunno. Maybe it's cultural. I grew up in WI, but have lived in many parts of the country (NJ, CA, and NC). We are indeed a culture of great diversity.

I will continue using Gesundheit - thanks for the reminder! :)

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgesundheit.html

:hi:

Thanks muchly. :hi:

You're welcome. :hi:

I grew up in rural South Carolina (the Upstate part).

We used to say "scat!" when people sneezed. I guess it's the same basic idea as "god bless you"--telling any lurking demons trying to steal the soul to "scat" (or get away).

Now that I think of it, I don't think I ever heard "god bless you" or "gesundheit" until I left home. Except on TV.

If someone sneezed, it was possible the had pneumonic plague and would need all the blessings they could get. "A-tish-oo, a-tish-oo, all fall down" as the children's rhyme still goes. Blasphemy was the least of their worries.

How about "Oh your god!"

Bender used that one on Futurama.

I do it because I think it's funny. I mean, you use it when you're frustrated, you know? It's like, Dude, you died for THIS? Unbelievable.

We're not God's special creation; we're becoming the ultimate weed on the planet, gobbling up resources like there's no tomorrow. Jesus Christ Almighty.

My dad used to say Jesus Jumped-up Christ, Jesus Christ on a Crutch; Go to Hell and Goddammit were pretty common one when I was growing up.

I used to say "God Bless You" to this Baptist boss I had a long time ago. He and I had many serious discussions about religion and he would look really surprised when I would say that. It was pretty amusing.

"Oh, Random Chance! Oh, my Natural Selection! Oh, Darwin! Oh Darwin! OHHHHHHHHHH!"

I've tried substituting the name of other mythical characters, but saying "EeyOre Damn it!" just doesn't work...

other such innocuous phrases. Not out of respect for JC, but just as an example of other less vulgar (what ever that means) sayings available.

When I'm really pissed and the kids aren't around, the good stuff comes ou. Computer problems desreve a godammmit. Bush = fucking douchebag. etc.

... it's all just leftover language to me. :)

because I don't think giving someone your blessings is or should be the reserve of theists. Similarly, the words "mercy" and "heavens" (in the sense of the celestial sphere) I have no problem with. As a journalist, I work in a fairly sweary environment, and Mrs Taxloss and I are both adults, so I do use far stronger oaths.

Still, sometimes a "God almighty!" or "Christ!" slips out, but it doesn't bother me. Considering the grave and imminent danger that atheism is in, we have higher priorities to focus on.

In the long run - if we can resist these current setbacks and get back to advancing the enlightenment - I think we will reclaim "fuck". In the UK at least, it is becoming far more widespread and tolerated as a general exclamation and intensifer.

as much as possible. I do very well when writing, but it sometimes slips out during verbal dialogue.

I use all kinds. Depends on my mood. I try to be respectful, but if I am pissed off, whatever comes out, comes out. Wanna make me madder? Correct me when I say something like "Jesus Christ." I usually only use that name when I am expressing disbelief about something. "The bill is $100?! Jesus Christ!" Sometimes, I monitor myself. I was at the dentist and they gave me the bill and it was $500!! I mumbled.."Jesus Christ, how am I going to pay this?!" The secretary scolded, "That is NOT appropriate!" I said,"I am sorry. Holy FUCKING shit! How am I going to pay this motherfucking bill?" She never corrected me again! But, I did try not to use JC around her.

I have NEVER thought "G-ddamnit" was taking the Lord's name in vain. I always saw it as a curse, an "evil eye," if you will. You are asking G-d to damn or curse something or someone. But that's just me!