I'll say shit or drop an F-bomb now and then because those "swear" words were made up arbitrarily. But I don't say "Oh, my God" or similar things because that's taking the Lord's name in vain and that's a commandment. In Turkmen, their equivalent is "Allajan." So I have a theological dilemma. I asked my LCF what the T-men equivalent for "Oh, my goodness" is since that's what I say instead. And her reply was "Allajan." Then I think about the fact that Allah is the god of a false religion so maybe it is really more like saying "by Jove," which I say on rare occasions when I've been watching a lot of BBC imports on PBS. So I'm taking a poll of my Christian friends. Saying "allajan": okay or not okay?
8 Comments
Toadacious
1/4/2011 12:43:24 am
Here's the definitive answer.
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Mimo
1/4/2011 06:10:13 am
I don't have as much of a problem with people using swear words per se that don't take the Lord's name in vain as I did when I was younger. I just think of them as lazy and stupid, unlike yourself as an English major with a great vocabulary!
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Maresha
1/5/2011 05:29:00 pm
The Muslims here say allajan all the time. Racial slurs are hurtful, swear words are not when used as interjections.
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Melissa
1/5/2011 06:11:32 pm
Doesn't Allah just mean "God" in Arabic? Don't Arabic speaking Christians call God "Allah?" In that case it might be better not to say it... there must be some other alternative. The Japanese just say "ehhhhhh???" with however much shock and drama is appropriate to the situation. You could try that. It's completely inoffensive and also kind of fun.
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Toadacious
1/6/2011 06:54:49 am
Many swear words ARE hurtful. They hurt the sensibilities of people subjected to them. I, for example, no longer eat breakfast at the St. Louis restaurant because a table of some seven older, loud, incessantly profane filled the airwaves with this detrius each morning. It made me depresssed to think that fellow countrymen could be so disgusting.
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Maresha
1/6/2011 02:48:12 pm
Two things: One, Paul used the word shit in the Bible and Peter Kreeft will back me up on this. Though I do agree that swearing is like seasoning and a little goes a long way.
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Toadacious
1/7/2011 06:13:20 am
The word you are referring to is translated as "dung" in the KJV and when that came out in the early 17th century, it's standard use was the same as our "garbage." Only after a couple of hundred years did it take on its current scatological connotations.
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Jenny
1/16/2011 11:39:57 pm
Just say "NO!!!" if something is frustrating. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.
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