Somebody enlighten me...

[Karipet]

I've noticed an abundance of writers on the site use the term "Oh, Gawd" in their stories and I've always found it incredibly distracting. To me, it comes across as some type of country bumpkin type slang. Yet many of the stories it's used in, the characters can hardly be described as such.

Do people use it to avoid the name, God? I can't tell whether they're worried about being blasphemous or giving credence to something they don't believe in. I don't believe in bigfoot either, but I'd hardly use the term bigfawt if I used it in a story.

Just one of those random questions that distract me from the multitude of loquacious voices that crowd my mind.

 

[KeithD]

Yes, I think they use it to separate the meaning from religion. I use it on occasion and I also occasionally don't capitalize "god" when I use that spelling in context. I don't see where it should give anyone heartburn--and is a polite bow to some readers.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I think you're right. 'Gosh' pops up regularly as well. I think it also depends on the the character's background.

It's fine to write a story with a brother fucking his sister, but don't take the Lord's name in vain...

 

[Specula]

I've noticed an abundance of writers on the site use the term "Oh, Gawd" in their stories and I've always found it incredibly distracting. To me, it comes across as some type of country bumpkin type slang. Yet many of the stories it's used in, the characters can hardly be described as such.

Do people use it to avoid the name, God? I can't tell whether they're worried about being blasphemous or giving credence to something they don't believe in. I don't believe in bigfoot either, but I'd hardly use the term bigfawt if I used it in a story.

Just one of those random questions that distract me from the multitude of loquacious voices that crowd my mind.

A possible answer: yes, Virginia, there are quite a few country bumpkins out there (in the South? or possibly elsewhere) and yes, there are upright, god-fearing folks who don't want their god to smite them with lightning bolts or any other nasty weapons of mass destruction for abusing her almighty name.

 

[LexxRuthless]

Meh. I think you're reading too much into it. I only use it to point out the accent.

 

[SamScribble]

Meh. I think you're reading too much into it. I only use it to point out the accent.

I'm with Lexx here. If I have ever used the word, it would be to indicate that the speaker pronounces the word as 'gawd' rather than 'god'. And most of my characters only know god with a lower-case g anyway.

 

[Karipet]

A possible answer: yes, Virginia, there are quite a few country bumpkins out there (in the South? or possibly elsewhere) and yes, there are upright, god-fearing folks who don't want their god to smite them with lightning bolts or any other nasty weapons of mass destruction for abusing her almighty name.

Trust me, having been born, raised and lived in the south my entire life, I'm well versed with the intricacies of the accent. I've got a close female friend fro LA (lower Alabama) with perhaps the most pronounced southern accent imaginable and I've never heard her pronounce it as gawd.

Maybe it's something particular to Appalachia or the midwest, but I don't see it as a southern thing.

I had no intention of offending anyone with the question. It was something that bugged me that I was curious about. I guess I find a lot of irony in the thought someone might be scared of taking god's name in vain while writing a story containing so much other supposedly sinful content.

Of course, I'm not a religious type person at all having put all that behind me when I left my parent's upbringing. So, it might not be the easiest thing in the world for me to relate to.

To each his own.

 

[Karipet]

Meh. I think you're reading too much into it. I only use it to point out the accent.

I get that and in some of the stories I've read that was quite clear. I've read stories on the site however that takes place on the west coast or the northeast and feature protagonist born and raised there that use it as well. That's when it bothers me because it doesn't ring true to the character. It takes me out of the moment happening in the story.

Just a pet-peeve of mine. Not a big deal, though.

 

[Karipet]

I think you're right. 'Gosh' pops up regularly as well. I think it also depends on the the character's background.

It's fine to write a story with a brother fucking his sister, but don't take the Lord's name in vain...

Yeah, the irony is thick in some cases.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

I get that and in some of the stories I've read that was quite clear. I've read stories on the site however that takes place on the west coast or the northeast and feature protagonist born and raised there that use it as well. That's when it bothers me because it doesn't ring true to the character. It takes me out of the moment happening in the story.

Just a pet-peeve of mine. Not a big deal, though.

I don't usually write "gawd", but when I have, it's to indicate sarcasm or exasperation.

i.e.: "Oh, gawd, Melanie, you can't be seriously asking me that right now."

I live in Appalachia, and have lived in other parts of the South (and the northeast, among other places), and that spelling doesn't ring as a "southern" accent to me. Maybe it's an artifact of my age, but I think of "gawd" as a Valley Girl/SoCal/Mean Girl affectation. {If you're old enough, think of the opening part of SirMixAlot's "Baby Got Back", and that's who I'm referring to.}

I've never associated it with an author attempting to not take the Lord's name in vain, so to speak.

Just my two cents...

 

[ElectricBlue]

And most of my characters only know god with a lower-case g anyway.

Likewise. Although some of mine get quite religious at times .

But worrying on a porn site if some readers might take offence, my god, that's the definition of a nanny state. Seriously?

 

[KeithD]

But worrying on a porn site if some readers might take offence, my god, that's the definition of a nanny state. Seriously?

And how about worrying how authors prefer to spell it in their stories? I think this goes both ways.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/gawd

 

[Karipet]

Likewise. Although some of mine get quite religious at times .

But worrying on a porn site if some readers might take offence, my god, that's the definition of a nanny state. Seriously?

Your last sentence was my reaction. I wasn't sure why people were doing it. I'd come up with a few speculative reasons in my mind, but they were based on nothing more than pure conjecture on my part.

 

[Karipet]

I don't usually write "gawd", but when I have, it's to indicate sarcasm or exasperation.

i.e.: "Oh, gawd, Melanie, you can't be seriously asking me that right now."

I live in Appalachia, and have lived in other parts of the South (and the northeast, among other places), and that spelling doesn't ring as a "southern" accent to me. Maybe it's an artifact of my age, but I think of "gawd" as a Valley Girl/SoCal/Mean Girl affectation. {If you're old enough, think of the opening part of SirMixAlot's "Baby Got Back", and that's who I'm referring to.}

I've never associated it with an author attempting to not take the Lord's name in vain, so to speak.

Just my two cents...

Interesting and thanks for the reply. That clears up where it comes from for me and why it seemed such a strange affectation to my southern ear. I can see it's used in the case you mentioned but "Oh, gawd, I'm going to come" just bugs me for some reason though.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

But worrying on a porn site if some readers might take offence, my god, that's the definition of a nanny state. Seriously?

Just to let my inner pedant hang out for a minute -- I think it would only be a nanny state if Laurel designated that you could only spell it "gawd".

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Interesting and thanks for the reply. That clears up where it comes from for me and why it seemed such a strange affectation to my southern ear. I can see it's used in the case you mentioned but "Oh, gawd, I'm going to come" just bugs me for some reason though.

Yes. I can't remember running across that spelling in that circumstance, but I agree, it'd likely make me pause for a second or two.

 

[Karipet]

Yes. I can't remember running across that spelling in that circumstance, but I agree, it'd likely make me pause for a second or two.

Oh, I've encountered it many times. A story will be flowing nicely and reaching titillating parts when the particular verbiage rears it's ugly head as I described. It totally takes me out of the moment when it happens. It's not that it's a big deal. I've just always been of the mind it does the story a disservice when used in such a manner.

 

[Vix_Giovanni]

I agree with others who’ve commented they use the spelling to show accents. And, I agree with the OP that I’d find this spelling weird to read in a sex scene if I wasn’t prepared for it.

An immediate example that comes to mind is Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis, and comedic phonetic spelling is a large part of the dialogue: in some scenes, to capture a Savannah dialect and in others, to perfectly illustrate the borgoise, babbity drawl of the Darien, CT. I think it’s a useful tool in context for character building, especially when the whole spelling supports the dialect reference (“Awh Gawd, that’s sew hawt it’s kewl”)—not that I particularly enjoy reading/translating so much as I think the technique can give additional dimension. However, I personally think it’s kind of jarring when the spelling just comes out of nowhere.

 

[GuessImJamie]

Ah, an example of a failed educational system...
יהוה is a Tetragram, of God's name as given in scripture. God, Lord, Father*, "our father,"* are not God's given name. יהוה (Hebrew like most ancient languages reads right to left) is YHWH, the consonants of God's "given" name. Many people never use the vowels because writing only the constants is not the "actual name" although we imagine that the "studio audience," can figure it out. Jehovah is a close translation.

Traditionally some publishers printed God as G-d, to avoid "saying the name." But the prohibition in Exodus 20:6 is specific to "the name" (יְהוָה).

לֹא תִשָּׂא אֶת-שֵׁם-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לַשָּׁוְא

Remembering right to left...
לֹא. Not
תִשָּׂא. You shall take
אֶת- |a direct object|
שֵׁם- The name
יְהוָה YHWH
אֱלֹהֶיךָ. Of Israel
לַשָּׁ֑וְא. In vain

* That God is spoken of with a gender is a failure of language.
Job 11:7 says
הַחֵקֶר. Can the depth
אֱלוֹהַּ. Of the Lord
תִּמְצָא. You search ou
אִם. Lo
עַד. To
תַּכְלִית. The limits
שַׁדַּי. Of all
תִּמְצָא. Can you find

 

[Karipet]

I agree with others who’ve commented they use the spelling to show accents. And, I agree with the OP that I’d find this spelling weird to read in a sex scene if I wasn’t prepared for it.

An immediate example that comes to mind is Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis, and comedic phonetic spelling is a large part of the dialogue: in some scenes, to capture a Savannah dialect and in others, to perfectly illustrate the borgoise, babbity drawl of the Darien, CT. I think it’s a useful tool in context for character building, especially when the whole spelling supports the dialect reference (“Awh Gawd, that’s sew hawt it’s kewl”)—not that I particularly enjoy reading/translating so much as I think the technique can give additional dimension. However, I personally think it’s kind of jarring when the spelling just comes out of nowhere.

When it's plainly a part of a consistent and intended dialect, I get it too. Even if I don't find the wording consistent with what I know of the accents involved.

 

[Vix_Giovanni]

When it's plainly a part of a consistent and intended dialect, I get it too. Even if I don't find the wording consistent with what I know of the accents involved.

Gotcha.

 

[JKendallDane]

Since I have been known to occasionally utilize spirituality and deeply held religious beliefs as character traits and plot lines in a story I use "gawd" as a defining line between a Higher Power and an excited utterance.

That habit has carried over to all my stories mainly because of my own beliefs. I'm not offended reading "Oh God!" in other author's stories, but it's just something I personally avoid.

Just my not so humble opinion and your mileage may vary.

.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Meh. I think you're reading too much into it. I only use it to point out the accent.

Likewise, altho I’ve never used gawd. I’ve use Jaysus... but more as dialect to emphasize a character’s background.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I once spent an entertaining couple hours listening to anecdotes from the head of a pornography sellers association. Apparently videos which included 'god' or 'Jesus' in the dialogue sold terribly in the same areas of the USA which provided their best business. Redubbing orgasms to remove such words was a niche skill much in demand!

Also the more evangelical Christian the region, the better the sales of gay porn.

 

[SimonDoom]

I once spent an entertaining couple hours listening to anecdotes from the head of a pornography sellers association. Apparently videos which included 'god' or 'Jesus' in the dialogue sold terribly in the same areas of the USA which provided their best business. Redubbing orgasms to remove such words was a niche skill much in demand!

Also the more evangelical Christian the region, the better the sales of gay porn.

To paraphrase Hunter Thompson, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn to porn."