Is "oh my god" offensive?

[Mrs. Darcy]

I'm used to hearing other people say it so it doesn't offend me, but I don't say it myself. Pesky 10 Commandments thing and all.

This is how I feel, too. But I'm guilty of using omg a lot when i text/post. I'm trying to stop, though.

 

[mommy2allgirls]

Dh and I don't say it and we try not to use curse words at all. We don't use it because it is taking the lords name in vain. Of course we slip sometimes but we try our hardest to avoid curse words and omg

 

[marcyinPA]

I find it offensive because I don't believe you should take the Lord's name in vain. (uh-oh....religious post! But, it's the answer to your question. ) I have no problem with oh my goodness or oh my gosh, I just don't like hearing the word 'God' (capital or lowercase, since you can't tell the difference in speech.) used that way.


BTW- I don't say anything to the person who uses it (unless it's one of my students- Christian school, so it goes with my above statement), I just choose not to use it myself.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[marcyinPA]

If you say "Oh my God," you better be praying! I do find it offensive, I don't say it, and I also don't say "OMG." I actually find it kind of sad that I had to take the "OMG" stickers out of a pack of stickers I bought for DD.

When I use the text talk, I usually put OMGosh. In MY mind, though, OMG actually stands for Oh My Gosh!!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

It reflexively bothers me, mostly because I know it offends some people, so I try not to say it.

I try to stick to Carp, oh my goodness, my word, frack, and fark. Back when I was in college, we used to call people yahoos - from Swift's Gulliver's Travels - it was supposed to be nicer than calling them effing redneck jerks. . .and then someone from my neck of the woods named his company Yahoo and that little psuedo-swearword went out the window!

 

[BeefJerky]

It doesn't offend me, I have blurted it out sometimes but I am trying to stop.

 

[dogluva]

I don't find it to be. We were in church for my daughter's first penance and she screamed it! The whole church stopped and looked. It was funny because on the way over, she swore up and down she had not sinned. Really, couldn't think of single one in her seven years on Earth.

 

[Music City Mama]

No, it doesn't bother me at all. I don't say it around people I don't know well (or people who I know might be offended) and will say "oh my goodness" or "oh my gosh" instead. I also teach my kids to use those words instead, but if they did say "God" at home . . . *shrugs*, doesn't bother me. I know "OMG" is popular now, but "Oh my God" was a huge expression starting in the 80s -- "Valley Girl", anyone?

One of the Ten Commandments is not to take the Lord's name in vain. To me, saying oh my God - especially for silly, non-life threatening, non-soul-searching stuff is using his name flippantly. And it's a cultural catch phrase now which further diminishes the meaning of using his name in that instance. i.e. You are not really reaching out to him and relating to him. It about what's going on in one's heart when one says it. So for me the term is offensive and I choose not to use it and teach my children not to use it. However I don't speak out to others against using it - that is their choice and I can see how if you don't believe in God then it wouldn't be a big deal to use his name in any shape or form.

I don't have a problem with this thread but have to chuckle a bit at the notion that one didn't intend a thread that refers to God to involve religious discussion.

I know what you mean because I feel the same exact way when people ask for prayers about "non-life threatening, non-soul searching stuff".

My opinion on this has changed through the years. Growing up I didn't, it was just an expression people used without thought. When we first moved down here I learned for the first time that people found it offensive, so I just started saying Oh My Gosh in respect to other peoples feelings. Then after I became a Christian I found it offensive because I perceived it as people taking my God's name in vain. But now(still a follower of Jesus) I guess it depends on the circumstance.

I personally wouldn't say it because I believe I would be taking God's name in vain and I would also find it offensive if a fellow believer used the phrase. But if one doesn't even believe in God or serves a different god, when they're saying it they're not talking about my God at all. So I just recently started to think, should I be offended? They're either using it in reference to a god I don't believe exists or as just a meaningless expression. Doesn't mean I like hearing it, but I guess it depends on the circumstance as to whether or not I would be offended.

Not sure if that I explained that well enough, it's just my rambling thoughts.

I think you hit the nail on the head!

Offensive? Um, I don't think so. Do I say it? No. Our my children allowed to say it? NO! Do I scold any of the kids I know when they are in church and I hear them say it? YES!

But "offensive"? Eh.

In some ways, I find "Cheese and Crackers!" worse.

In find those kinds of expressions worse in some ways, too. What kills me are people with specialized license plates that say something like "GZUS".

 

[shaylyn]

I do NOT like it, even though I'm not a very religious person and don't attend church.

Lately it's being said more and more. I've noticed it on many sitcoms and tv shows.

 

[mhsjax]

oops I did not mean for this post to be religious.

I just witnessed something a few weeks ago, and it made me wonder.
just wondered how others felt about it.

There is really no other way for it to be. Those who don't find it offensive, don't have a religious reason. Those of us who do, it is because of religious beliefs.

Yes it is offensive.

 

[MrsPete]

I find it offensive because I don't believe you should take the Lord's name in vain. (uh-oh....religious post! But, it's the answer to your question. ) I have no problem with oh my goodness or oh my gosh, I just don't like hearing the word 'God' (capital or lowercase, since you can't tell the difference in speech.) used that way.

This is it exactly. People who use this phrase mean to express surprise or shock, and they aren't speaking of God at all -- thus, it's using His name in an irreverant manner.

Even if you don't believe in God, you're probably a nice person who wouldn't want to go around insulting other people with this phrase.

Certainly, some people call on God in times of stress. However, in general I think that expression is just used as an expression.

Genuinely calling on God's name is a whole different thing -- using His name as a thoughtless expression is what's being discussed.

 

[Robinrs]

I'm a Christian who is NOT religious and I say it all the time. I don't see it as a "in vain" thing. There are plenty more "in vain" statements to worry about.

 

[MrsPete]

I'm a Christian who is NOT religious and I say it all the time. I don't see it as a "in vain" thing. There are plenty more "in vain" statements to worry about.

I agree that there's worse out there -- but that doesn't make this acceptable.

 

[roscoepc1]

Careful everyone...moderator alert!

 

[SookieStackhouse]

I do find it a bit offensive, I am not going like call somebody out on it, but I do not use the phrase myself... Now I am guilty of typing "OMG" sometimes, but that's just 3 letters.

 

[mrspaha]

I personally never say the expression -- just my old religious upbringing. I'm not really offended when I occasionally hear it, but I don't like it hearing it all the time. I do not watch that house makeover show that's on before Desperate Housewives, but sometimes I'll turn to that channel before Desperate Housewives is supposed to start and see the end of the show when all these people keep saying that phrase over and over and over again -- totally bothers me.

Reading this thread, I've realized to myself that I've often lately used OMG when texting to my kids. I think I'm going to stop doing that...

 

[scraps4abc]

It bothers me and here's the reasoning behind it (as explained by a Pastor at a church I went to previously)...

If someone was using your name constantly in exclamation, exasperation or just for the heck of it, such as "Oh my Timothy" or whatever your name is, and you were in close enough proximity to hear, you would keep saying, "What do you want?" and if the person would go on to say, "oh nothing" or ignore you, it would exasperate you because you're waiting to see what they need or want. Wouldn't you think that's how God feels? My husband and I teach our kids and the youth we mentor that the only time you should say "Oh my God" is when you are talking to him - in praise, to share or for help. Unlike many of the other 'curse' words, God is the one who said don't take the Lord's name in vain; most of the other words are only bad because society has made them that way over the course of history.

All that being said, I would never correct a friend or other adult upon hearing it, however, we chose not to use the phrase in our vocabulary. I can see where it would depend upon one's religious views or involvement to decide what is or isn't appropriate and I'm okay with that.

 

[*Fantasia*]

"oh MY god." i guess that shouldn't offend me.. it is YOUR god, and not my GOD. i usually just say "oh my gosh" or "oh my goodness."

 

[mumto3girls]

I don't find it offensive, but I try not to use it and have taught my children it is something you should not say because it uses God's name in way that it shouldn't be. They say, "Oh my gosh." We do all sometimes slip and say it because it is so commonly used and we are so used to hearing, but we try not to. This is how I was taught as a child also, so was my husband. Maybe a "bible belt" southern thing, I don't know. But I know other people to try not to say that phrase also.

This. I am not personally offended, but many people are so I do not use it and have taught my children not to use it. I am not in the bible belt though.

 

[disykat]

.Genuinely calling on God's name is a whole different thing -- using His name as a thoughtless expression is what's being discussed.

That is what I was pointing out.

I think that the expression originated from calling on God's name, but many people take it and use it as a thoughtless expression.