In the past, people confronted me with the supposition that if I use expressions which use religious references, I am not agnostic. I disagree, and wrote a FB post about it at the time.
Which of these expressions do you hesitate to use, assuming they fit your dialect? Which do you use by accident?
Bless you, after a sneeze
Bless you, to indicate good will
Jesus Christ, as an expression of frustration
Jesus fucking Christ, if you swear in other circumstances
God damn you
Dammit
Go to Hell
God knows, as in no one knows
Heaven on earth, or seventh heaven
Heavens, as an expression of surprise
Thank God, as an expression of relief
Oh my God, as expression of surprise
Are there any other phrases in the dialect you share, which you avoid or try to avoid?
I use a lot of them, mostly without much forethought, because it is habit and they have no religious meaning to me. Sometimes I refrain if I think someone might be offended by say, a Jesus Fucking Christ. However, I never say bless you to indicate good will and don't like when others say it to me. Not sure why it is more distasteful, maybe it feels more like the invocation of some spirit.
Also for sneezing I am more in the gesundheit camp, since that is what I heard growing up.
A lot of these are really said out of habit. as we're younger you learn to say 'Bless you' after someone sneezes which proves the fact that it could be a religious thing is entirely irrelevant.
Personally I'm trying to get in the habbit of saying these alternatives:
'Oh... your...god!'
'Thank Darwin!'
'Gordon Gecko!'
'Darwin knows how that happened...'
Hope this helps!
I didn't really use those expressions when I was religious. I make it a point not to use them now, but due slip out on ocassion. For some people it's force of habit and not implying religious bs.
Most, I would say.
I do not use any of those terms.
Why?
@LionMousePudding At one time I did. Long ago a good friend noted using the terms specific to their fantasy world pays credence to their faith based belief structure. I have managed to replace all those saying with equally colourful and graphic) secular phrases.
Yes. I more use it as a culturally understood expression, though. Like "God dammit" or "Jesus Christ".
I always thought of them that way because I was never religious, so the religious origins of them were lost on me.
I tried for a while to exorcise them from my vocabulary, but it was too much. They're simply too ingrained in me as exclamations. But I have tried to switch to "Salut!" when people sneeze. I'm not trying to bless anybody, even in German.
When I hear someone say “bless you” when I sneeze, I ask them to save their blessings for the children laying sick in hospitals. Or in cases where I know the person is catholic, I ask them to instead bless the children raped by priests. ?
Gesundheit means health.
The actual tradition in German is a bit more complicated.
"Gesundheit" (health) is what one says after the FIRST sneeze.
After the second sneeze one says "Glück" (luck).
And after the third sneeze you say "und ein langes Leben" (and a long life).
We simply demand health over and over. It is because we need single payer health care!
@LionMousePudding Ah, thanks for the correction, my apologies.
All the time. Sometimes this makes theists angry, but tough. People can believe anything they wish, but I am under no obligation to revere, respect or take seriously the imaginary players of their religion. Therefore, I use all the expletives I feel like, godded or not.
Jesus tap dancing Christ yes!
Fantastic!
Not so much anymore. I used to . One I use often is Holy Houdini. Lol
By choice? Why?
@LionMousePudding I just don't want to use those phrases. I've always been very conscious about my language. I believe the words you use certainly expresses your level of intelligence.
Occasionally I use some that are mentioned here but 'Japanese Jesus ' is my 'bloody hell 'of American english....
Habits are slow to die. One I do use a lot is "good lord."
You could change that up and say “oh lord of darkness”. ?
That is indeed a very good example. I say it too
I make a conscious effort to not use Christian terms to the point where people give me strange looks. Instead of “oh god” I say “oh dinosaurs”. “Sweet Jesus” is replaced by “sweet Pamela Sue Anderson”. I try to keep Christians on their toes. Lol
Been using Jesus Christ in frustration or surprise for about 55 years, mimicked from my parents (Jewish)
Been using Jesus Fucking Christ more and more as my health worsens, must be his fault right?
Not sure why damnit is religious (because only religious people can be damned????) But also have used that for about 55 years
But their argument makes about as much sense as saying if you use the word Kibbitz you must be Jewish. If you say "voila!" you must be French etc.
Having been brought up Catholic and had cousins and uncles who were nuns or priests, I was told that "damn" is derived from God damn and is just as bad because when saying it you arr invoking or inciting God to send someone or something to Hell to suffer eternal damnation.
And remember, I'm just the messenger, and I'm signed up on this site too...
I am glad to see agreement
My mom got her habit from her father, who would only say "damnation" when I nowadays would say fuck. "It's not a swear, it's a state of being" was their excuse!
Oh yes. My take on it is that these phrases have been integrated into the vernacular and, therefore, have lost most of their religious meaning. I don't use them for religious purposes, but more to express frustration or simply out of habit. I don't they have any religious meaning anymore.