第570期：Before you say “My God”, think twice.

发布于2019年8月22日2019年8月22日作者:佛老

For no particular reason, I just feel like writing today’s topic in English. Let’s see how it works.

Have you ever said “My God!” when you are shocked or surprised by something?

I bet you have. Most of us have.

People say it all the time to express disbelief, frustration, excitement, anger or exaggeration, among other things.

Though it’s perfectly ok to say it as an exclamation, you might want to take some caution when you are talking to a certain type of people.

Let me start by telling you a true story of mine.

When I was in college, I had several American teachers.

Most of them were in their senior age and very religious; some of them even had Phd degrees in theology and had been protestant pastors in the States before they came to teach English in China.

Let’s call one of them Mr. K, a fictitious name, just for the sake of easy story telling.

There was one day when I was in Mr. K’s apartment, chatting casually with him while his wife, Mrs. K, was busy in the kitchen.

He said something, I don’t recall exactly what it was, and I exclaimed “My God!” – I was surprised at what he said. I had to say something as a feedback or response to his remarks after all, right?

He stopped to stare at me seriously and said, “Don’t use God’s name in vain.”

What? I was lost.

He repeated, “You shouldn’t use the Lord’s name in vain.”

There was a deep conversation among us (Mr. & Mrs.K and I) over our lunch.

Then I got it – to some people, it is just not right to say “My God” in such a careless manner.

If you are talking to some old-school type of people like Mr. K, you might get the same lesson as I did.

Ok, here is why.

There are a small number of religious people (especially in the U.S.) who don’t use the phrase “My God” whatsoever because it has a word “God” in it.

They take the Holy Bible very seriously (or rigidly) as God commanded Israel, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)

They believe no one should say “My God” unless he or she is literally calling him in a prayer, or else they would be undermining the Christian mission and violating the Ten Commandments.

“Come on!”, many people would disagree.

Most people today think it is a medieval concept, a cliché, rather than a blasphemy. Not at all.

Some argue that “God isn’t God’s name, it’s what it is.” (I should’ve used “Him”, not “it”, to refer to God, shouldn’t I?)

The name of God is Jehova or YAHWEH.

“God” is like his identity or title known to people, right? (I am sorry to have used His name in this instance. Please pardon me. I had no ill will.)

So what should you do then?

Here are my suggestions:

1. Simple — say it when you feel like saying it, but don’t over use it — saying “my God” every other word will make your speech sound like a repeated exclamation without meaningful content.

2. Easy – try other phrases with less or lighter religious connotation, for example, saying “oh boy” instead of “oh my God” expresses your emotional reaction just the same but spares you the trouble of my experience.

*Other similar phrases include “oh my”, “oh no”, “boy”, “gee”, to name a few.

*Oh, here is another one that I don’t recommend – “gosh”, or “my gosh”. It means nothing different from “my God”.

3. Or – I have learned another alternative from the Italians when I worked with a lot of them – Mamma Mia. Sounds more hippies, nifty and lighthearted, no?