Quite a few atheists, including on this site, have a dislike of these phrases and avoid using them, even going so far as to comment on it when others do. (That's not a dig at people who do this, incidentally!)
How many made a conscious decision to stop saying similar things when they became atheist? Who, like me, considers it unimportant and continues to use them?
I use "OH MY GOD!! at lot - I say it when something is UNBELIEVABLE!
Great explanation
I've been known to curse in French which invokes Mary's sacred blue robe, the sacrement, and the challis of the tabernacle, but Jesus fuckin' Christ, I would never say anything to offend anyone!
Oh, now that's just showing off!
I used to know a few German and Japanese curse words. I went into a slide last winter, came real close to another car's bumper. When I stopped I realized I'd been swearing in German.
@HippieChick58 lol. Ever German curse in front of a German in the States?
@EllenDale No, haven't had that privilege.
I'm okay with "Jesus Christ" as a curse word because I just get weird looks when I use, "Tom Sawyer" or "Harry Potter."
I say "Gesundheit" when people sneeze though. I cannot bring myself to implore a nonexistent creature for its favor.
I want to start using Harry Potter when people sneeze to see what kind of reaction I get. That could be fun!!
Lol I say that too. I can’t say “bless you”.
I do still say "oh my god" and "damn it" but I stopped saying go to hell, favoring eat a dick instead.
Yeah I agree. Eat a dick is good.
@DelilahJones33 if I'm particularly feisty "goest thou to Hell and quickly please and may Asmodeus himself suckle from your diseased teat"
Fancy pants!!! When I’m feeling feisty I just add “cunt” to the end of whatever I say. “Fuck off then cunt!” “The fuck you say cunt?” “Please pass the salt, cunt.”@LadyAlyxandrea
@DelilahJones33 ah yes I also call other cunt, though I'm told it's one of the worst things to call someone.
I guess female genitals really are the worst thing lol
Right!@LadyAlyxandrea
if you bang your knee and yell "oh shit" do witnesses think you're asking someone to defecate? do they think "oh fuck" is a request for sex? if not, then there is no reason for anyone to take your exclamations of "omg," "jesus christ" or "go to hell" literally either! (and when someone sneezes and i bless them, it is MY blessing i am bestowing, not that of some deity. i often warn the recipient that since it is my own blessing, i limit each recipient to two.)
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I say all of those things (except soulmate) because they are a part of my vast swearing arsenal. I don’t say “for the love of god” anymore though. For some reason when it’s coming out of my mouth I “feel” idk something that has made me stop.
Ironically I didn’t use these phrases when I was religious because it was “taking the lord’s name in vain” or some similar reason.
Now I use some of the phrases without thought because I am not religious anymore. Interesting that for some people it was apparently opposite. Never thought of it that way.
But “positive” religious phrases like Bless you I definitely don’t use anymore because they are so empty now.
I use them all the time. If someone gives me flak about it, I merely inform them that I also use the phrase "holy shit" but that doesn't mean I worship at the Divine Church of Fecal Matter.
I say "You are sooo good looking" when someone sneezes.
I say Jeezy Creezy, quoting my favoritye atheist Eddie Izzard. Or verdammt nochmal, blödes Arschloch or Idiot (same word in both languages.)
German is such a wonderful language for swearing - it'd be the best of all had Yiddish not have taken all the very best German swearwords and combined them with the best from all the other European languages!
One of my favourites, courtesy of my grandmother: "Zey shtil, farshtunklen tayvl!"
I actually believe soul mates could be a real thing on a molecular level. We all come from atoms, and our atoms could have been very close during the big bang. Now it's theorized but plausible
I like that
I don’t “believe” that but I definitely think it’s a cool idea.
I had no idea that 'soulmate' was considered religious. The concept of an immortal soul that lives on beyond death might be religious, but the idea of a soul (encompassing the consciousness and other non-physical aspects of who and what you are) that dies the moment you do doesn't strike me as particularly theistic. Even those who believe in reincarnation don't necessarily need a god to make it happen.
To me, soulmate is just a reference to someone you have a deep (usually exclusively so) emotional connection with. I'm happy to use it. I'll be quite annoyed if someone pulls me up on it.
I don't think I commonly use any of the others. But then I don't really keep a record.
I wouldn't call it religious but many atheists, in addition to rejecting the notion that such a thing exists, tend to equate it with religious phrases.
I too use "soulmate", mostly because I don't know of a better term to describe it. I also say "oh my god"and may have said "Jesus Christ" a few times, but I don't think I've ever told anyone to "go to hell" - not for any particular reason, it's just not a phrase I use.
Totally irrelevant. When the language police get on your case you know you’re in trouble! Don’t mess with people’s vernacular because you’ll fuck up their mind and creative free flow.
I use whatever pops out. Could be "Jeezus Kreist", "goddamn it", "holy shit"! or an old W.C. Fields favorite, "motherofpearl."
LOL I've made a very weak attempt. To me language is about communication. Many of those phrases are well known phrases, with well known connotations and communicate very clear understandings of the state of mind of the person saying them. It's become pop-culture-esque in the way these things are tossed around.