Comments on: Is it okay to say “Oh my gosh” or is that taking the Lord’s name in vain?

By: Gail

Gail — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 02:20:00 +0000

I am working on not saying those words. Also I had a teacher who suggested we keep the word “holy” holy and not say things like “holy cow” or “holy smokes.” I slip up more times that I would like to admit in using these words.

By: JLynnie

JLynnie — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 09:08:00 +0000

In reply to Nikolai Terry. Amen! Well said, sir.

By: Nikolai Terry

Nikolai Terry — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 12:25:00 +0000

one would think that virtually any exclamation can be traced back to something if you look hard enough. Whether it be heck, darn, drats, all are substitutes, as are gosh, golly , you get to the point where you cant say anything, even words like picnic have sinister origins even if the negative connotations have long since passed. We are supposed to avoid any and all references to deity no mater how far removed, no reference to words used as substitutes for swears, all that is really left is putting nonsense words in, that requires forethought in a situation where instant reaction occurs. Even using rats can be traced back to divinity if you wanted to. I think you put to much thought to this, as long as your not directly using the lords name in vain you should be ok, because God knows our hearts and if in our hearts we say good golly miss molly, HE knows we are not using his name in vain.

By: Deborah Crow

Deborah Crow — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 16:16:00 +0000

I had to chuckle: “if one drops a 30 lb brick on ones foot, oh darn doesn’t seem to be quite vigorous enough for that situation.” Oh so true, same with stubbing ones toe on something or finding the Leggo that eluded the vacuum cleaner at 3 AM. I’ve been trying to be creative in that regard: “Oh my chocolate ice cream with FUDGE sauce on top.” helps or just “Fudge with nuts.” You sound silly enough to draw a chuckle and still be socially acceptable. Besides, stubbing your toe hurts like anything, it’s hard not to cry out.

By: Liz Perrott

Liz Perrott — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 08:39:00 +0000

In the UK. ‘ Gosh’ , ‘ my goodness’ or ‘ Good Grief’ are acceptable terms and not usually considered blasphemous, I do not see how they can be the sign of a ‘ weak vocabulary’ they are expressions of surprise of shock; However the term ‘Jeez’ used commonly in North America and I have heard it used my LDS members often does seem questionable if we are talking terms derived from the name of our Saviour Jesus.

By: Nikolai Terry

Nikolai Terry — Wed, 20 May 2015 08:07:00 +0000

And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful
hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is sin, but
with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance–

By: Nikolai Terry

Nikolai Terry — Fri, 15 May 2015 09:18:00 +0000

In reply to A Happily Married Man.

Ceasing from all laughter? Really all light-mindedness, how
can we have joy w/o laughter and silliness. When I play with my children it is
a time to be silly and frivolous, to laugh and shout, do you abstain from
laughing and being silly?

By: Nikolai Terry

Nikolai Terry — Thu, 14 May 2015 18:02:00 +0000

In reply to A Happily Married Man. So gosh, goodness are all out, apparently all exclamations can be tied back to words we are not to use. So I started to think of new words to use, Shazam , greats odins raven, great googlie mooglies, but it dawned on me, regardless of he substitute word, in my mind m till saying sh!p when I stub my toes, I'm till thinking goodness when my son makes a gret play. I'm sure he lord probably cares more about my being a good husband, good father and citizen than he does about what non name in vain exclamation I utter in moments of ecstasy , pain, joy, surprise tc. In my heart and mind goodness is not the lord, so is it still using it in vain, Is saying thank God when good fortune comes my way. I thank the lord in prayer for my blessings , so is it wrong to thank him outside of a prayer?

By: A Happily Married Man

A Happily Married Man — Thu, 14 May 2015 07:25:00 +0000

No “holier than thou” attitude intended if that’s the way it came across. My understanding of mortality and the afterlife is simply this:

God expects us to try to be better than our current selves and sometimes that’s hard. A lot of us are in our comfort zones and don’t want to change. I get that, seriously. Unfortunately, for us to get to where God is will require a lot of changing and it’s going to continue long after we’re dead. In the meantime, we have been given the scriptures and commandments to do the bare minimum in this life compared to what we’ll probably have to do on the other side.

One of those things is found in Doctrine and Covenants 88:121. It says:

“Therefore, cease from all your light speeches, from all laughter, from all your lustful desires, from all your pride and light-mindedness, and from all your wicked doings.”

The temple has wording similar to this, too. I just take the Lord at His word on the subject of language, is all.

By: A Happily Married Man

A Happily Married Man — Wed, 13 May 2015 06:17:00 +0000

Actually, “goodness” in that sense is also a euphemism for “God.” As for myself, the more I know about the origins of words, the more I try to watch what I say (even though I fail sometimes). But as a few examples, let me show you these from the dictionary:

gosh |gäSH| exclam. informal used to express surprise or give emphasis: gosh, we envy you.• used as a euphemism for “God”: a gosh-awful team. ORIGIN mid 18th cent.: euphemism for God.

goodness |ˈgo͝odnis| exclam. (as a substitution for “God”) expressing surprise, anger, etc.: goodness knows what her rent will be.

gadzooks |ˌgadˈzo͞oks| exclam. archaican exclamation of surprise or annoyance.ORIGIN late 17th cent.: alteration of God’s hooks, i.e., the nails by which Jesus Christ was fastened to the cross; see Gad2.

heck |hek| exclam.expressing surprise, frustration, or dismay: oh heck, I can’t for the life of me remember. ORIGIN late 19th cent. (originally dialect): euphemistic alteration of hell.

Other words like “shoot,” “shiest,” “crap,” “fetch,” “dog backwards,” “H-E-double hockey sticks, “darn,” “dag nammit,” and so on ALL fit into that same category.

I hate to say it, but these words are so common among us members of the church that it’s not that hard to come up with a list like this. And Gramps hit the nail on the head when he said it is “reflective of a weak vocabulary and social mimicry.” If anything else, why are we trying to mimic Babylon, when God has called us to be a “peculiar people”?

This is just my humble opinion, but if the language we use is indicative of what kind of person we are, we would do well to watch our words. We are also told to be a light unto the world and not to hide that same light under a bushel, so what better place to start than with our tongues?

Let me also link a good video of a woman who joined the church and who was influenced by a man who had clean language (and consequently wasn’t even a member of our church).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwUv-IOF1gQ

My point here is that when a non-member trying to live for God can have this much influence on this woman, how much more powerfully should we be able to speak by the gift of the Holy Ghost? That’s the promise if we live worthy of it and that’s a pretty amazing promise to say the least.

By: A Happily Married Man

A Happily Married Man — Wed, 13 May 2015 05:21:00 +0000

In reply to A Happily Married Man. My apologies for the spelling error in that last sentence. The word "out" was supposed to be "ought."

By: Mozziekins

Mozziekins — Mon, 11 May 2015 11:21:00 +0000

I kind of agree but also kind of disagree with this answer. I feel there is a measure of blasphemy involved just by the use. Some of these words include “gee, jeez, gosh” , which I believe are simply degenerations of the words “God” and “Jesus”….they are just too close in pronunciation not to be. Having said that I am always a little relieved when someone begins a phrase with “Oh my….” and then say “gosh” rather than “God”. The latter variation is used so often nowadays.

This is an excellent article that also addresses words such as “fetch’, “frikkin” etc, although doesn’t actually mention those words (I cringe even writing them). The author rightly calls them “substitute” words…everyone knows what someone really wants to say when they use them.

The article is called “Thy Speech Reveals Thee” and was given by Elder L.Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles several years ago, and printed in the New Era for the youth (but indeed good food for thought for us all.) Below is the link. Hope it works…I’m not really good at technology! Otherwise you can google the talk! :)

https://www.lds.org/new-era/2007/07/thy-speech-reveals-thee?lang=eng