Epithets

[arthwollipot]

Do any of the other atheists on this list try and avoid using religious epithets like "thank God it's Friday"?

Do you have a standard substitute? Like for example "thank Dog it's Friday"?

[Darat]

Deja Vu? ;)

Well I do but that is more how I was brought up - I will say "for goodness sake" and "thank goodness it is Friday". But I do say "bless you" when someone sneezes.

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

Sure do. I usually default to "bless you" on sneezes just because I can't think go of anything else to say and it's so ingrained in me to say _something_.

[arthwollipot]

Whenever I sneeze and someone says "bless you", I reply "no thanks."

[Mojo]

Do any of the other atheists on this list try and avoid using religious epithets like "thank God it's Friday"?

Do you have a standard substitute? Like for example "thank Dog it's Friday"?I suspect that, at least in the culture I live in, expressions like "thank god it's Friday" or "bless you" are deeply enough ingrained that using them isn't any sort of indication of current, or even past, religious belief.

There's a thread somewhere about "Jesus Christ" as a swearword.

ETA: I see that this thread actually seems to have arisen from the other one...

[TobiasTheViking]

Goddamnit.

Jesus Tap-dancing Christ.

For Satan.


Yeah, use them all the time, and why not.

Though i never say "god bless you" when someone sneezes.. I always say "gesundheit"

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

Goddamnit.

Jesus Tap-dancing Christ.

For Satan.


Yeah, use them all the time, and why not.

Though i never say "god bless you" when someone sneezes.. I always say "gesundheit"

Err, isn't gesundheit German for "god bless you"?

[Megalodon]

Err, isn't gesundheit German for "god bless you"?

No, just "health".

[Marquis de Carabas]

Not only do I not avoid such expressions, I often take the opposite extreme and expand on them. It is not uncommon for me to reply to a sneeze with a rapid "blessyouindanamaGoddafaddagoddason'ngodda'olygos'"

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

No, just "health".
Cool! Well, that's my new knowledge item for the day; my brain is full.

[KingMerv00]

I don't avoid them. I think it is a little silly to go out of my way to invent new phrases for no reason. Saying "bless you" isn't literal.

[Bruno Putzeys]

They're used so often that I'd expect them to be devoid of meaning to christians as well. Nevertheless I tend to substitute "luckily" or "thankfully" for "thank god". On the other hand, one can catch me saying "god willing" or "inch'allah".

[Beady]

They're used so often that I'd expect them to be devoid of meaning to christians as well. Nevertheless I tend to substitute "luckily" or "thankfully" for "thank god". On the other hand, one can catch me saying "god willing" or "inch'allah".

Ditto. Political Correctness gets on my nerves, generally, since it's mostly for its own sake and rapidly becomes dogma without any real thought behind it. I find it even more obnoxious when people try to justify it by invoking skepticism and critical thinking.

It's kind of the same when people post here, asking whether they should avoid going to a friend's church wedding, out of concern that someone will mistake their presence as an avowal of religion. In either case, who really cares, and what difference does it make?

[grayman]

When ever I say "Bless you" to someone I am quick to add that I mean it in a unintrusive, non-denominational, open-minded, respectful of their personal beliefs manner.

[HeyLeroy]

Whenever I sneeze and someone says "bless you", I reply "no thanks."

I'll ask the person if they're qualified for that.

I use 'gesundheit', or (phonetic spelling, I'm not sure how correct this is) 'yegideh shugideh', which I was told means 'to your health' in Hungarian. I like it 'cause it sounds funny.

[HeyLeroy]

Goddamnit.

Jesus Tap-dancing Christ.

For Satan.


(snip)

'Christ in a sidecar' or 'christ on a bike' are more personal faves.

[CriticalThanking]

Deja Vu? ;)

Well I do but that is more how I was brought up - [snip] But I do say "bless you" when someone sneezes. I also say "Bless you" out of habit. Then I catch myself - if they sneeze a second time, I tell them "Well, blessing obviously didn't work, so now damn you to hell. Any better?"

CT

[fuelair]

Whenever I sneeze and someone says "bless you", I reply "no thanks."

tell them you prefer "blessed be" .

[Cleon]

'Christ in a sidecar' or 'christ on a bike' are more personal faves.

Jesus Tapdancing Christ in a Sidecar? :)

I've been known to use "Jesus Tapdancing Christ on a Stick." :)

[This Guy]

One that has given me a hard time getting away from is "Lord willing and the creek don't rise".

Used when asked if your going somewhere, or will you be here tomorrow, that type thing.

I used it for years, never with any religious intent, more to get a chuckle than anything else, but since becoming atheist I don't feel right using it.

Now, when I'm asked if I'll be at work tonight (or whatever) I do this blank stare, while my mind thinks, DON'T SAY IT, and trys to come up with something else. Normally the something else is "yea", but it takes like 10 seconds to get it out lol

I need a new saying!:confused:

I tend to us the "Bless You" when anyone sneezes. But it's more habit, and like others have said, I don't think most folks consider it a religious saying.

[ceo_esq]

None of these are really what I'd call epithets.

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

Jesus Tapdancing Christ in a Sidecar? :)

I've been known to use "Jesus Tapdancing Christ on a Stick." :)

I've always been fond of Stephen King's "Jesus jumped up f***ing Christ on a pogo stick!"

[TriangleMan]

Did you know that 'good-bye' is a contraction of "God be with ye"?

It's true! (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=g&p=8) :)

[arthwollipot]

I've always been fond of Stephen King's "Jesus jumped up f***ing Christ on a pogo stick!"

I think it was Robert Anton Wilson who coined the phrase "Jesus Christ and his Black Bastard Brother Harry" which I use sometimes. I also say "Mist all chucking frighty", which I got from a story about Rindercella.

[tkingdoll]

I'd be lost without blasphemy, I love to exclaim "Holy F****** Christ!" or "OH. MY. GOD" (although I did experiment for a while with Bender's "OH. YOUR. GOD"). If I get a sudden shock, like a loud noise or something, my automatic response is "JESUS CHRIST!".

However, I have changed a few things. I don't say stuff like "God willing" or "thank God" any more, I would use "thank goodness" instead.

[Tricky]

This is one of my favorites.
http://independence.nyhistory.org/museum/images/cm_new/gen/180px/INV_11350b,c_img01.jpg


Tricky, as per the membership agreement, do not post hotlinked images.

[Molinaro]

When someone sneezes I often "bless them", by making the hand genture just like a priest does when he concludes mass. I do it to ridicule the idea of 'offereing a blessing' over something so silly.

I do use the phrase, "thank god" on occaision. Every single time I consider stopping myself to avoid being considered hypocritical.

[arthwollipot]

Epaulette?

[CriticalThanking]

Epaulette?
Isn't that a french girl's name?

[Meri]

I blaspheme almost constantly, just because expressions like "Jesus Christ" are too useful to get rid of. There's actually a great Discworld quote about the need for blasphemy, which, thanks to Wikiquote, I have here. From Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett:

Besides, when you hit your thumb with an eight-pound hammer it's nice to be able to blaspheme. It takes a very special and strong-minded atheist to jump up and down with their hand clasped under the other armpit and shout, 'Oh, random-fluctuations-in-the-space-time-continuum!' or 'Aaargh, primitive-and-outmoded-concept on a crutch!'

[Soapy Sam]

Thank Allah it's Thursday?

The Gesundheit thing-
The "-heit" suffix in German usually equates to the "-ness" ending of an English abstract noun.

"Gesund" is a cognate of the English "sound" (as in solid or healthy- "sound as a pound"),
hence " Gesundheit" = "soundness" or health.

[arthwollipot]

I blaspheme almost constantly, just because expressions like "Jesus Christ" are too useful to get rid of. There's actually a great Discworld quote about the need for blasphemy, which, thanks to Wikiquote, I have here. From Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett:

There's a lovely description of Norwegian swearing in Trilobite! by Richard Fortey, which I won't quote at the moment because I'm late and it's tired and I have to find the book. Maybe tomorrow.

[Just thinking]

Did you know that 'good-bye' is a contraction of "God be with ye"?

It's true! (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=g&p=8) :)

Is it any wonder that the words good and evil differ from God and Devil by just 1 letter?

[Z]

I use 'Christ on a pogo stick!' a lot. Lately, though, I've switched to the slighly more kid-friendly 'Frog-slammit!'

Thanks to my wife's allergies and other conditions, my general response to a sneeze has become, "Are you OK?"

Seems I catch myself saying, "Thank Bob" a lot, too...

[Morrigan]

Not really. I sometimes say "thank god" (as it "thank god it didn't happen"), though sometimes I switch to "thankfully", or when I want to be facetious, "thank the gods" or "thank Satan" or "thank Odin.
I keep saying things like "God forbid" or "Jesus Fu*king Christ", too.

[arthwollipot]

'Frog-slammit!'

Frog-slammit. I like that one. Where does it come from?

A friend of mine uses "Holy snapping duck *****!"

[TriangleMan]

Is it any wonder that the words good and evil differ from God and Devil by just 1 letter?
Actually I was more surprised by the word 'bye' being a derivative for 'be with ye'.

As for personal cursing I've been known to use "Jai-sus Christ on a cross!" (in lieu of a pogostick).

In the Middle East I've been taught that the proper (arabic) response to "How are you?" is something like "Bekhayren, wa al'ham'du lellah" which is "Fine, thanks to Allah". I've been using it so far but hopefully I'll find another acceptable response other than thanking God.