Holy mudder ov gad tis true, I still find meself using dem and instantly " good gad will ya just listen to yersell" doh!!
so ingrained < have I spelt that correctly

Myself, I see all religious language as metaphor and allegory. I mean, I quote Shakespeare sometimes, without expecting people to be fans of his, or even to agree with his point of view.

I also like the idea that, as a non-believer, I can commit the "sin" of blasphemy without too much fear. I find the phrase, "Well, fuck me Jesus!" to be particularly rewarding.

I am still trying to stop saying oh my god or typing OMG. It's a hard habit to break. However, when I say, or hear anyone, say these things, I don't automatically think of religion. They're just words, not proclamations.

At the end of the day they are just words. And many people who use them probably grew up learning them. It is ingrained in their vocabulary. For me personally I don’t know if I could ever just stop using all these phrases.

I still kinda use them..I started use Gaaawd, jasuz b4 I joined..but I don't have an issue with people using them..kinda pointless actually.

You know what, I will say what I want too, I was born and raised athiest in an athiest country, and if I say oh my god, it means nothing but oh I am surprised. For all the people I have ever known in my life 90% of which are non religious all say these phrases, and no one even sees it as a religious quote, just a common statement. But I come from a wonderful free non religious country, so I am lucky.
I do notice myself, on this site, saying oh my goodness instead of oh my god, because I get the feeling I may offend some.

People that get all freaked out over these terms are no different than Christian Fundamentalists. The idea of being a "free thinker" is that we have honor the right of others to their own process. If you're going to censure me when I speak, then I have no desire to hang around. I did my time with fundemantalists, I'm done with that.

This is like saying if you use curse words you are either a dirty sailor or some low-life punk. Saying things that originally religious in nature, does not then make you religious. If that was how we operated then all atheist named John, Luke, Mark or any other name that comes from a holy scripture or from a Saint should change it

our time is based on jesus so who gives a shit?

I try to keep my language pretty clean because I am on the phone a good deal of the day and don't need anyone tattling to my manager about my potty mouth. And I have a granddaughter that will start talking soon. I use Jeebus Christopher and OMG frequently. I haven't told anyone to go to hell in many years and my response when told to go there is that I've already been there and got kicked out. I can be creative, succinct, and close to rude without being vulgar. I like to be creative rather than vulgar.

I am not sure soul is an entirely religous construct. From Wikipedia: Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, understood that the soul must have a logical faculty, the exercise of which was the most divine of human actions. At his defense trial, Socrates even summarized his teaching as nothing other than an exhortation for his fellow Athenians to excel in matters of the psyche since all bodily goods are dependent on such excellence. Would you prefer psychemate? With my luck I'll find a psychomate and we will be infamous.

I use some of them now and then. They have simply become part of the lexicon. Oh my God or Jesus Christ express a particular meaning that is no way involved with belief. And using them in that way takes away some of the superstition associated with them. My last girlfriend used to joke that I always found religion in moments of passion.

I think it is sorta the way I celebrate Christmas or Easter with my kids. They have become much more cultural holidays. The more people that use them as cultural, rather than religious holidays, the less power the religious observances have.

I could easily be argued out of this way of thinking. At some point, when enough people do these things culturally, it will be easier to change them as the majority will not be driving it from a religious perspective.

I rarely say the ubiquitous "thank god", or some of the other phrases which have (in my opinion) become common vernacular, but the occasional "oh my god" slips out. I don't assign any religious significance to it/them, and those who know me accept it as a slip of the tongue (so to speak), but I endeavor to not use those epitaphs in my speech. "Oh my gourd" pops out upon occasion, or "cheezits", or something along those lines, but really, does it matter all that much? Our language (English) is a compilation of so many other languages and cultures, so why fight an assimilation of so many contributions to our language and our society?

It's habit one grows up with. Atheists say 'oh my god' because they are so frustrated with theists. OMG was great. Now I say OMB for 'Oh my Bene,' which means 'good.' But swearing or blessing is so habitual it is hard to find something else. Probably why the atheist bloggers use f--k so much.

? i made an effort not to use them myself; however, i am not bothered when others, even vehement atheists, use them.

My mother who was very unassuming, led a quiet but fulfilling life. However, if she ever said "Judas H. Priest!" everyone rapidly ran for cover! Dagnabbit is simply a way of saying godammit in "polite company" as is shoot and other variations of swears. I still find myself snarkingly saying "Thank you god," to other people in fustrating moments. Its nitpicking but if you want to change, it takes 90 days usually to make the new habit stick.

I sometimes say “oh, gods”. That comes from playing a lot of role playing games as a teenager. Mostly Dungeons and Dragons. I gave up saying “Jesus Christ!”. Usually I’ll say something like bugger or bollocks.

When I sneeze, I say "excuse me". If someone tries to bless me, I tell them they aren't qualified or I ignore their remark. When others sneeze, I ignore it. Expecting others to participate in your superstitions or delusions is foolish. However, I do cuss like a sailor when appropriate with no limations. However, I'm more prone to say "Cheese and Rice" and "Gosh darn it" when in mixed company.

I've almost stopped using those terms. It slips out once in a while. I am atheist, hear me roar.

Well Shuck my Corn!! or What the Hay? or Good Grief! are all alternatives that I have adopted.