Saying "Oh gods" instead of "Oh god" ...Why?

[GamemasterAnthony]

I've taken to saying "What in the name of The Seven?" in certain situations. It's a reference to something I'm doing for my fanfiction reboot wherein the Seven in question are seven primary deities that have taken a personal interest in the worlds' affairs.

In regards to this, however, I could see someone using the phrase "Oh Gods" to avoid offending any one religion by not necessarily standing behind any one religion. Of course, considering that certain members (and thankfully not all of them) of the religious community have been acting like total dongblenches... *gives WBC the evil eye* ...I'm not surprised if people don't want to stand behind any religion and would thus choose phrasing to avoid the connection.

 

[Rastrelly]

I do it really often. Mostly because I love fantasy genre, including there Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance and Warhammer stories.

 

[kyuzo3567]

I picked the habit up from books I read, they're basically all Fantasy books and alot of them have a large Pantheon of gods in their world and it was said so much it just kinda stuck with me to pluralize it... and it's amusing to see the looks I get when people overhear me say it that way

 

[corpseapult]

I picked up the phrase from all the Discworld books I read from my early teens onwards.

I'm an atheist and always have been (my parents encouraged my me, along with my brother and sister, to choose our religious beliefs on our own and we all turned out as atheists.), so I've always found blaspheming a fairly odd thing in general.

On the rare occasions I was called out on it in school and asked why I said "oh gods", I'd ask them "Why not?"

For me there's no concern about being politically correct or minding others religious feeling, largely because here in the UK, people generally seem to keep religious views personal and private.

 

[Lord Garnaat]

Or it's just a reference to the holy trinity. But no, americans - as seen by others - usually worship just the personification of jesus and generally have no clue about the texts, philosophy or nature of religion.
But what do I know, I'm one of the Hedoneus people on earth.

The Trinity isn't three separate gods, they're just the three aspects of the Lord that people encounter in their life. I think that saying that the Trinity are distinct gods themselves would be really insulting to a Christian, considering how important monotheism is to the faith.

 

[lacktheknack]

I don't think most people assume you are actually performing some sort of rite to bless them if you happen to say "bless you" after someone sneezes.

Oh, the hilarious stories I could tell about the time I nearly got fired...

OT: I have no idea. Huh. I haven't really noticed the phenomena myself. Maybe they all watched The Music Man?

 

[Hoplon]

Yeah appealing to imaginary beings is totally bizarre. Might was well appeal to Bill Murray.

 

[Nieroshai]

I'd say it stems from a desire to be different, iffiness about possibly using a specific god's name or title in vain, or a flashback to the old "ye gods!" which predates "Oh my God" as an exclamation.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I say "Gods damn it!", only because Ancient Egyptian and Norse were the closest I have ever come to following religion.

 

[Iron Gix]

mmm,not to be mean but you really need to learn more about the world, some pagan's may say oh god's and other people may say this simple because they think or believe that there is more then one god.

 

[Vale]

I use it because it's appropriate for my exasperation/horror and I'm just used to saying "oh gods" instead of "oh god" or whatever other variation of these, so I instinctively use that.
It probably does not actually have any connection to me being an atheist.

 

[drummond13]

"Oh Gods" usually means that person is a member of the crew of Battlestar Galactica. If you hear someone say "Oh God", they're likely a Cylon.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I've only seen it online, and usually it's in a certain context like if someone is excited for say, a Zelda announcement they might say "oh goddesses" or "thank Nayru/Din/Farore." I have seen the "oh gods" on the escapist, and just assume it's people breaking the mold, or showing apathy toward religion in general.

I agree it's kinda pointless to add an extra "s", or say "oh God" so much if you aren't religious, but as long as people aren't being overly malicious with their speech, who am I to wonder about other people's speaking habits?

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Presumably they use the plural because they believe in a plurality of deities.

I imagine that someone who firmly believes in multiple supernatural beings controlling the events around them would want to be careful not to let any of them feel left out. Additionally, monotheism is so firmly entrenched in most contemporary English-speaking cultures that the use of the plural becomes a statement of an independent group identity.

 

[TheDarkestDerp]

... because maybe to some people "Oh gods" is more than "just a saying to express surprise or dread" and you believe in the existence of more than one supernatural entity? It's not all that complicated, duder. My fiance is Wiccan, I'm christian and both of us say it because both of us believe in the existence of multiple gods or supernatural entities that may have sway over earthly matters.

 

[soren7550]

For some I'd believe that it's because of the whole 'don't use the lord's name in vain' thing (my mother took this a step further by swearing to a god she didn't believe in because that's a-ok apparently, to which whenever she screamed "I swear to Buddha" at me, I pointed out that since she couldn't be bothered to swear by something she believed in, I couldn't be bothered to listen to what she had to say). The rest are probably trying to be cute and/or trying to avoid pissing people off.

 

[KeyMaster45]

I've really only ever heard the phrase used in fantasy settings where the world's lore is built upon a pantheon of gods. I wasn't aware there were people actually using such a phrase in the real world. It sounds silly at best and douchy at worst.

 

[Phasmal]

Most people when they're saying something like `Oh god/s` are doing a sort of `darn supernatural entity/ies why you do this to me?` and it makes sense to say gods if you believe in more than one or are not particularly sure on how many there are.

Still, I say all sorts, and I'm not religious.
My shocked reaction is still kind of to say `Jeezy Chreezy!` but I think that has more to do with Eddie Izzard than religion.