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Saying "OMG"

Bini

By Bini,
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Bini

Bini

Posted
Posted

How do you feel about people saying "Oh my God"? Is it ever acceptable? Or is it always inappropriate? Does it depend on one's tone of voice and the context in which it's used?

My parents taught me that saying this is using the Lord's name in vain. So it's just not something I say. And on the rare occasions its slipped my lips, I just didn't feel right about it. But are there ever exceptions to saying it? I know it's pretty common among kids to use it for just about anything. To me, this is without question, using the Lord's name in vain. But I've heard it used in different context as well. I'll hear older people say it when they've heard terrible news and clearly they feel grief. In this case, I feel the words "Oh my God" are used in genuine sincerity and not just a casual saying. And yes, I'm probably overly thinking this but it's always interesting to see what others think :]

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Elphaba

Elphaba

Posted
Posted

How do you feel about people saying "Oh my God"? Is it ever acceptable? Or is it always inappropriate? Does it depend on one's tone of voice and the context in which it's used?

I try to be very respectful to those in my life who are LDS because they believe it is using the Lord's name in vain, and so I don't say it around them.

The same holds true for the board. There have been many times I would have liked to have said it, but did not, because it is a LDS board and most LDS would be offended by it.

Before I became disabled and thus had to move in with my LDS mother, most of my friends were not LDS, and we used the phrase without thinking twice about it. Even those who were LDS did not seem to mind it, which I think was because they understood mixed company rules differ from same company rules.

Unfortunately, there just is no good substitute that carries the same punch, and I admit, I miss being able to say it.

So, to accommodate my need to be completely taken aback by something someone said, and to express the same, I've decided I will be saying "Oh My Larry!!!" from now on.

Admit it. It's much better than "Oh my gosh!" :P

Elphaba

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Tarnished

Tarnished

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I never use it, I have never felt comfortable saying "Oh my God", I do view it as taking the Lord's name in vain. I will admit that I have had my bouts of swearing, times in my life where swearing became a habit, but never have I used Oh my God as one of my "swears". I just see it as too disrespectful.

The only time where I would view it as acceptable would be in song, in prayer, or when actually addressing Heavenly Father or Christ. Otherwise it is using the Lord's name without having any respect for the way you are using it.

When others say it around me it bothers me, but often I let them say what they are going to say. I show them my own morals by my own behavior and thankfully because of the way I act the people around me tend to act accordingly. In American culture saying this phrase has become one of our mildest oaths, when in reality I feel it should be one of the strongest. The other swears in our culture are all tied to our culture, so outside our culture they don't hold the same weight, but saying Oh my God is actually breaking a commandment, why do something like that when it isn't necessary? Why not say something like "Oh my goodness" instead?

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Lbybug

Lbybug

Posted
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i say OMG but i say "oh em gee" the g being "goodness"....although i understand most people would think i'm saying "God". Most my friends know It would be referring to "gosh or goodness" cause they make fun of me for saying "oh my gosh" or "oh my goodness". so personally i don't have a problem with "OMG", but i can understand why someone would.

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Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia

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Those who don't believe in gosh go to heck... Just something to keep in mind.

Vanhin

But Vanhin, darlin' ...we don't believe in heck. 'member?

On topic...

Keep in mind that we have expressions that replace swearing and I've often heard people say, you might as well say oh my god because that's what you mean or use the F word instead of fetch or freaking.

I personally, say OMW, Oh my word, probably more than I'd like to admit and I freely say oh my hell because I don't think hell and damn are swear words. :D

*watches everyone race to yell at her*

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Dravin

Dravin

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I thought this was gonna be about actually saying OMG (Oh Em Gee) and was gonna comment that a couple Sundays ago a speaker actually used that phrase in her talk while busily smacking on her gum.

I may be a tad old fashion but hearing from the pulpit, "*smack* *smack* and I was like Oh Em Gee! *smack* *smack*" made me cringe.

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Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia

Posted
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I thought this was gonna be about actually saying OMG (Oh Em Gee) and was gonna comment that a couple Sundays ago a speaker actually used that phrase in her talk while busily smacking on her gum.

I may be a tad old fashion but hearing from the pulpit, "*smack* *smack* and I was like Oh Em Gee! *smack* *smack*" made me cringe.

Someone ought to *smack* her. That's just obnoxious. Both the gum and saying oh my gee.

Seriously, as a part of the 12 year old program, they should insist on classes that teach proper etiquette when speaking at church.

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Vanhin

Vanhin

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The Finns exclaim the name of the supreme god of Finnish mythology, Perkele. Though, many don't associate that word with the mythological god any more since Chrisitianity demonized it's meaning to be "devil" or "Satan". That swear word in particular just makes me laugh, but I don't say it publicly.

However, there is a swear word in Finnish that is the combination of God (Jumala) and Help (auta), which is rendered "Jumalauta". I can see how that was pretty innocent at first and just over time became profane because of how it is used.

Why do I tell you all of this? I really don't know.

Vanhin

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Dravin

Dravin

Posted
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Someone ought to *smack* her. That's just obnoxious. Both the gum and saying oh my gee.

Seriously, as a part of the 12 year old program, they should insist on classes that teach proper etiquette when speaking at church.

The fun thing is that it's a young singles ward, which I think made it all the worse. I think I would have taken a 14 year old doing it more in stride. :)

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Dravin

Dravin

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Oh yeah... I thought I was on to something.

Actually I imagine those who do not believe in God will spend time in Spirit Prison (aka hell) learning and being given an opportunity to learn about the Gospel. So it's a true statement, it just has a very different connotation amongst LDS compared to mainstream Christians.

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Moksha

Moksha

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Unfortunately, there just is no good substitute that carries the same punch, and I admit, I miss being able to say it.

So, to accommodate my need to be completely taken aback by something someone said, and to express the same, I've decided I will be saying "Oh My Larry!!!" from now on.

Elphaba

Seems to be a workable substitute, eh?

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Dravin

Dravin

Posted
Posted (edited)

That's it! Instead of "Oh My H**l!," I can say "Oh My Spirit Prison!"

Hmmm....no punch there.

I know! How about "Oh My Badonkadonk!"?

. . . sigh . . . perfection. :P

Elph

You might be able to get away with it, but I daresay my own badonkadonk is nowhere near perfect. :)

Edited by Dravin
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Guest Alana

Guest Alana

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Keep in mind that we have expressions that replace swearing and I've often heard people say, you might as well say oh my god because that's what you mean or use the F word instead of fetch or freaking.

I think about this sometimes. I know someone who doesn't want me saying heck around her kids. I say it all the time though (try not to around her), I suppose in my mind it isn't replacing hell, just like gosh isn't replacing God, but is a separate phrase of it's own. When I get hurt I've conditioned myself to say "farfenoogen" and I really don't think I might as well just say the F word. There is a difference:P The interesting thing is, with the phrase 'what the heck' when I'm trying not to say it, it's hard. It's such a habit, and that's a whole other issue as far as I'm concerned. I don't like feeling like I can't not do something:P

As far as actually OMG out loud, I definitely see that as taking the Lords name in vain. I felt the same way when I was 7 and caught wiff of the 10 commandments. I've said it when completely stricken, and I promise, it was a direct plea to our Heavenly Father.

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Generally_Me

Generally_Me

Posted
Posted

I consider OMG to be harmless, Oh my G-d not harmless, any aspects of capital-L "lord" off limits as an exclamation. As for proxy swearwords...oh, law! We wouldn't have anything to say in surprise if we cut all those out of our language! An exclamation point makes a great comment in a comic strip but it's rather hard to have a bunch of symbols pop out of your mouth in real life.

Personally, I frequently use such made up words as "spidunkendorf" or "shibugan". Something that fully covers all aspects of surprise, and is a surprise as it leaves my mouth.

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