# Gosh or dagnabbit without religion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 30, 2001, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025 "2001-05-30T23:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/1 "2001-05-30T23:58:51Z")
I realized yesterday that most words and expressions (in English) that express surprise and dismay/anger refer to God or gods. Some are explicit (Goddammit,) and some are euphemisms or sound-alikes (Zounds or Cheese-and-rice.) If I were an atheist, or, conversely, a very devout guy, and I wanted to avoid casually speaking of God, my vocabulary would be really limited when it came to finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk or dropping a hammer on my foot. Can you think of non-religious things to say instead of Godfrey Daniels or Holy Toledo? ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/2 "2001-05-31T00:29:22Z")
Yes, but they’re unprintable. ---
**Author:** ![Azazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Azazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azazel)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/3 "2001-05-31T00:56:06Z")
I once commonly would utter “My Stars”, until it was misinterpreted as a reference to [hush][sub]astrology.[/sub][/hush] ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/4 "2001-05-31T10:39:05Z")
“Goodness Me”; “My Word”; “Gosh”; “Well I Never” for surprise… “All my days…” is popular in UK schools at the moment… Curse words are harder…thinks…falls asleep ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/5 "2001-05-31T12:46:07Z")
Religion is one source of words to express surprise/dismay/anger. Reproduction is another ;). ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/6 "2001-05-31T12:51:01Z")
Belgium, man. ---
**Author:** ![beefymeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@beefymeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beefymeg)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/7 "2001-05-31T18:21:05Z")
Rats! Crikey! Cripes! Blast it! Gol-blammit! Pin-feathers and poppycock! Oh, man! Poop! Fer Pete’s sake! Blimey! Bugger me! (that one’s not obscene in the UK, or is it?) ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/8 "2001-05-31T21:34:28Z")
Egads! Heavens to Betsy! Well, I’ll be! (Although that might stem from “Well I’ll be damned”) Crap! Fudge! Land sakes! Shittake mushrooms! Crimeny! ---
**Author:** ![VileOrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9e8a1a/32.png) [@VileOrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VileOrb)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/9 "2001-05-31T23:56:48Z")
arrgh! oof! (oofta in MO/IA) ow! wow! yeah! woohooo! ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/10 "2001-06-01T00:50:34Z")
I use “snack” as an all-purpose substitute for everything. I usually say “snack it” when something goes wrong, and just snack to replace curse words. I also use “pants” sometimes. Brianjedi-“PACKERS! Woohoo! Packers won the Super Bowl!” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/11 "2001-06-01T04:51:03Z")
According to Joel Garreau, the worst cuss words in Québec have to do with the Catholic Church. If you try uttering words like _tabernac_ or _eucharistie_, that’ll get you a fight in any bar in the Gaspé. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/12 "2001-06-01T09:19:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by beefymeg \* > \*\*Bugger me! (that one’s not obscene in the UK, or is it?) \*\* It is indeed!! I am a South African working in London at the moment, and for me this is a mild alternative, but I have shocked and astounded my collegues with my “potty mouth”. Gp ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/13 "2001-06-01T10:19:18Z")
Dorfle-Puddy! (can anyone here guess where THIS comes from?) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/14 "2001-06-01T13:37:35Z")
Perry White (Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s boss) used to use “Great Caesar’s Ghost”. As an editor of a small town newspaper, I started saying it just as an afectation (and because small towners expect the newspaper editor to be a character and say colorful things) but you know, it is a good one. It takes awhile to say so you can build with it and express a great deal. Had a minister in town who used to say “leader hozen”. He claimed it communicated his feeling and was merely saying a piece of clothing. Obviously, I misspelled it. A woman I know, (I can’t think of whom right now) says “Fiddle” and “Fiddle-faddle”. A student worker at the paper says “pooh”. The guy over at the hardware store says “Yoh-wa”. I once asked him what it meant. He said he didn’t know. He said he picked it up while serving with the SeaBees in the Pacific. TV ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/15 "2001-06-01T13:45:02Z")
Thanks for the answers so far. Some of the suggestions, though, are derived from, or whittled down from, religious phrases. For example: Egads is compressed from Ye Gods. Crikey, Criminy, Cripes, and Crimenently are merely repainted versions of Christ. Gol-blammit and Gosh are euphemisms derived from God. –Nott, whose Texan aunt used to say, “Oh, my stars ‘n’ little hoppy toads.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/16 "2001-06-01T14:07:26Z")
In Utah (and nowhere else) I have heard “Oh my heck!” “Heck” is usually a euphemism for “Hell”, so this might seem to violate your requirement of avoiding religion, but NOBODY says “Oh my hell!”, so this is arguably not even a euphemism. In a similar vein, I was surprised to see a country person saying “My Swan!” in a comic book once. I have since learned that “my swan” _is_ used as a mild oath in parts of the country. It doesn’t appear to be an obvious euphemism for anything. The only problem is that if you use it you’ll sound like Grandma Duck. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/17 "2001-06-01T14:08:17Z")
Don’t overlook the archaic imprecations from Early Modern English (Shakespeare’s time). Great fun to unleash them at Ren Fests. _Gadzooks_ — taboo-deformation of “God’s hooks” i.e. the nails of the Crucifixion. _Zounds_ — taboo-deformation of “God’s wounds.” _'Sblood_ — contraction of “God’s blood.” _Bloody_—either from the former, or a contraction of “By Our Lady.” Modern American taboo-deformation: Cheese and crackers, got all muddy! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2001, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gosh-or-dagnabbit-without-religion/67025/18 "2001-06-01T14:09:38Z")
I also knew a woman who really did say “Piffle!” It was so weird that it was effective. For my own case, I just make up gibberish when I need a convenient oath. I speak fluent gibberish.