I need a replacement for "Oh my G--!"

[autumnl]

I teach two year olds at a Christian preschool and one of my kids says this all the time. In fact it is one of the only phrases I understand. I tried replacing it each time he says it with "Oh my stars!" it worked, but he says "stars" very similar to "God" (he talks like a 2 year old). Any ideas for something similar to say instead? "oh my ______"?

[havejoy]

Oh my heck

[Elphaba]

Oh my Larry!

[nbblood]

My 2 1/2 year old just started saying "Oh my goodness!" It's very cute and I think a good substitute.

[Dravin]

Jabberwocky?

Okay, that is a bit much to ask at that age, but think of the coolness factor. Otherwise just think of a word that he says that doesn't sound inappropriate and pick that, "Oh my shoe!" doesn't make much sense, but as a random expletive it doesn't need to.

Edited November 14, 2009 by Dravin

[pam]

Oh my goodness?

[AELK]

What I tell my teachers is that the child is wanting to sound big. They see just expressions as 'adult' and get a lot of attention for using such words. The recommendation I have is for the teacher to give the child a 'big' word to say. One that will draw just as much attention but isn't profane. Something that you would typically only hear out of the mouth of a highly educated adult. That way the child still feels big but the word doesn't offend anyone nor does it break any of the commandments.

[miztrniceguy]

Heavens to Betsy!

[Tarnished]

Oh my goodness

Oh my golly gee willakers

Oh my stars and garters

Oh golly gee wiz

[Carl62]

How about, "oh wow!". You're problem could be though with the parents. If they say it at home, then that's more than likely where he's picking it up and it's going to be that much harder to control in school. Have you spoken to his parents, or do they see anything wrong with it? Believe it or not, even some Christians see this as nothing wrong, just so long as you're not using the word 'damn' next to His name. About a month ago, I created a thread about this very topic of what is and isn't using God's name in vain. Interesting viewpoints.

[lost87]

when my little brother (6 yrs now) was 2 he started saying "oh my goodness!" except for that he couldn't pronounce it right so it came out "oh my nooness!" and he always said it when something sad happened...it was the most heart meltinly adorable thing i have heard out of a childs mouth!

[autumnl]

the problem does lie with the parents, and if it comes down to it, i will find a way to talk to them. english isn't their first language, so it's tough- but i have heard them encouraging him when he says it- they think it's cute. but because it's a christian school, i feel i have the right to not allow that phrase at school. he is very quick to change it when i give him an alternative because he mimics- i just haven't found a good one to stick with

[Bini]

Does it have to be an "Oh my..." saying?

Can you redirect entirely to something more fun like "Oopsy daisy!"?

[Misshalfway]

I personally think Colonel Potter from the old M.A.S.H. Series has the best ones.

"Monkey Muffins!" was my personal favorite.

[Guest Alana]

Wowzers is on of our words of choice. I also say Holy Cow a lot.... but I'm working on it. Other favorites when frustrated is 'snake elbows!' and when I hurt my self I say "FIDDLE STICKS!!!" which is great because the F sound seems to flow well when hurt.

[JoeUzel]

"Oh bother", or just "bother" when it's something a person is unhappy with. It works for Winnie the Pooh. Good select children's book often have good alternatives to profanity.

It took me nine month's before my first daughter was born to instill that habit in myself. Now my co-worker's know me as the guy who doesn't ever use profanity.

Just a little latin by the way, "profane" comes from "pro + fano" meaning outside/in-front of the temple. In other words, the profane didn't go into houses of worship or temples.

[Ammonite]

"FIDDLE STICKS!!!" .

That's my mother's favorite.

I don't know why or when it started, but I catch myself saying "Holy Hannah Montana!" all the time now. I better stop before someone outside my immediate family catches me.

[Jamie123]

What about "Oh Man!!" ?

(And remember to put on a Janice Dickinson voice!)

[Dr T]

I'm with Bini on this too. I just read this thread and thought to take out the "my" word and maybe just use "Oh wow" or "wowzers" or something like that. Have the kids figure out a good alternative on hes/her own and reinforce it when used. Good luck with that.

[Hemidakota]

My 2 1/2 year old just started saying "Oh my goodness!" It's very cute and I think a good substitute.

This is the common phrase among Saints I do hear.

[RipplecutBuddha]

Hmm....

some that I've used over the years;

Holy McWallakiesters!!

Idiot....

Well, paint me gold and call me Oscar!

Then there's always the Yosemite Sam approach of simply babbling nonsense words at the top of your lungs...that's my favorite.

Oh, an my mother's favorite...."Oh, wheee"

[lattelady]

I love saying, "Oh My-lanta!" :)

[candyprpl]

After joining the church, it took me a while to change, Oh my ______ to Oh my gosh.

I agree with Carl62 -- if it's being used at home -- which it probably is -- then it will be hard for him to stop using it. Have you talked to the parents?

[Guest]

Interestingly, the kids and I had an in-depth discussion of cuss words and expressions last night. Okay, so this doesn't really have anything to do with a 2 1/2 year old... but I just thought I'd share and this thread just seemed the perfect segue. I was about to post it in Dr T's Father-to-Son thread...

So, the first thing I did was ask "What do you think about the word ass?".

My 8-year-old immediately said, "it's a bad word!".

I then proceeded to read off the scriptures in Mosiah 5:14.

And I asked the question again.

My 8-year-old started to ask why would somebody want to take somebody's hiny?

And that started the discussion on how ass is not a bad word per se. It is the use of the word that makes it a bad word.

We went through the same exercise with several of the bad words that I know of. Yes, we talked about the f-word as well.

We came up with the following types of bad words:

1.) There are certain words that are bad words but has an alternate meaning which is a good word. i.e. ass and witch-with-a-b.

2.) There are words that their existence is just to be a bad word. i.e. f-word.

3.) There are good words that do not have any bad alternate meaning but becomes bad because of the way it is used. I used the example of the word God in "Oh my G...".

So, the idea is not to circumvent the intent/meaning of the word/sentence/expression by replacement. Like saying Cupid instead of Stupid - it doesn't matter that cupid is a good word - it becomes a bad word by its use (type 3). The idea is to check what the intention of your statement first before you say it... think before you talk. So, we delved into expressions and what they portray - we discussed why we say "Oh my G.." and find a better way to express that intent - so we came up with emotions that trigger expressions... like saying OMG in awe of something extraordinary, we decided a better expression is "Amazing!". Or saying OMG in disgust, we decided a better expression is "Yuck!".

Okay, it was only a 45 minute lesson... but you get the drift of what it was all about.

On a wierd note... in the middle of this lesson, my 6-year-old ribbed his brother and said, "Mom said (w)itch"! So, I'm not so sure if it was a good idea to have my 6-year-old in the discussion.

EDIT: P.S. We also touched on when they hear expressions or words on TV or in movies. I encouraged them to analyze words and sentences that they hear before repeating it. And that, if they're not sure what the words mean, then they don't need to add them to their vocabulary until they ask me about them.

Edited November 19, 2009 by anatess