A Nice Way to Avoid Swearing

rogersgeorge on December 24th, 2023

We’re not supposed to use the Lord’s name in vain (vain means things of no value). So when you want to express a big emotion about something of not much consequence, what do you say? The usual soluiton is a minced oath, such as “darn” and “gosh.” Here we have a whole phrase, not merely a word:

https://www.gocomics.com/bliss/2023/10/16

What minced oaths do you use? I like to say “holy cow—excuse the hindu expression.”

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Rogers George has been a technical writer for more than 20 years. He has written on subjects as diverse as outhouse assembly, restaurant reviews, software, information security, and scientific equipment. He has his own writing consultancy and is always happy to discuss writing and grammar. Drop him a line at curmudgeon@writing-rag.com.

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