The startled atheist (agnostic)

Originally posted by KnightWulfe
Are we a "Back to the Future" fan?

"GREAT SCOTT!"

Nope, he's a fan of me!

I'm sorry but this is one area where the English have an total winner. It is the best exclamation by far.

It can be used in nearly every situation from declaring something good to announcing something extremely bad.

From now on all your weird exclamations should be replaced with a heartfelt "bollocks" with significant emphasis on the "bol"

Beware of imitations!! This is the only exclamation you need!

Originally posted by KnightWulfe
I am an Atheist.

The statements you are making are done out of habit. They are a culturally programmed response. The culture could be as small as having grown up in a Christian, Jewish, etc... household.

I say "Oh my God" all the time. However, I also say "Gods willing" (I went through a phase....) and "Holy sh*t!"

They are things that you grew ...[text shortened]... ith heard being said by everyone, most likey.

I would not place any stock in it at all.

Agreed. Blind people say "I see" all the time.

Originally posted by stocken
Here's my dilemma, see if anyone of linguistic power can help?

I don't believe in God. Therefore, when I'm surprised or suddenly startled, it's odd for me to go: "My God!!", or "Sweet Jesus!!!", isn't it?

And this would be most odd: "I'm startled!!!"

Ideas. Anyone?

Using Gods name in place of swear words should actually be a clear sign that you are not Christian.
I have a muslim friend who uses 'holy cow' a lot and I always tease him that it should be a hindu phrase.
Most expressions of this nature fall into four categories, references to God or heaven, references to hell, or references to sexual things or actions, references to disgusting things or actions. I guess the idea of all of them is to shock whatever just just surprised you, to give you time to recover and escape/ fight or whatever. This being the case I see nothing wrong with an athiest using religious words.

Have you tried oopsie daysie ?