Would you tell a child off / tell them not to say ‘ oh god ‘ or ‘ jeez ‘?

[haveyubin]

is this like swearing ?

I think my DD said Jeez once in front her aunty, who told her not to say it. She’s 5.

on my way home tonight I said ‘ oh god ‘ at a traffic situation and my kids repeated it.

and it made me think that I hope they don’t repeat it.

I have heard my other nephews and nieces ( from a different SIL ) say this and I didn’t think to correct them on it ( especially as their parents were there ).

I hadn’t really noticed my DD saying it a lot at all. But her aunt did pick up on it. Anyway then it made me think in the car today that I don’t want my kids saying it in case there are other people who think it’s bad for kids to say this kind of stuff. Of course I refrain from swearing but the occasional ‘ oh god ‘ or ‘ jeez ‘ slips out.

thoughts ?

It doesn’t bother me but my DH always pulls the kids up on it. He’s religious (I’m not) and he feels that it’s inappropriate.

I was just going to say that jeeze is so far removed from Jesus now that it is a word on its own and I bet people don't associate them!

I used to say 'gosh' as opposed to God and it was a conscious effort to do that, but DD has picked it up from my mum now (who is Irish Catholic). No-one at my Catholic primary had the least issue with taking the Lord's name in vain either, so I assume their homes were as full of 'oh God', 'for God's sake', 'Jesus Christ' as mine was 😬

Disclaimer! Purely anecdotal, I realise there are other denominations of Christianity and other people might be offended.

I would discourage 'Oh, my God!' no matter your persuasion. It's either blasphemous for your and your family or offensive to many.
Oh my goodness! Oh my days! are known substitutes.
Oh Jeeze is a swerve on Oh, Jesus! or Jesus Christ! - so perhaps more innocent but ...
The posh/rich/educated people, whatever their beliefs/persuasions, I know don't use swear words much because they have more accurate ways to express themselves. The 'posh' people I know don't swear and many would see it as common.

Yeah, you have quite low standards of punctuation.

I have a 5 year old. Jeez doesn’t bother me but I correct him if he says ‘oh god’ and remind him to say gosh instead. I’m not religious at all just don’t think it sounds nice coming from a small child. I don’t think anything of it when other kids say these though!

I say Oh god/Oh my god all the time. Would they be offended if I was referring to a Greek god or Roman god?

I could be referring to any old god so I don't know why anyone would be offended, it's their problem not mine as far as I'm concerned.

I know plenty of 'posh' people that swear like troopers.

It depends who you know, not which social class they fall into, I suppose.

@MightAsWellBeGretel , I agree. Adult posh people often swear like troopers. It's a bit all or nothing.

He doesn't say oh my gosh, just gosh and none of us say jeez, largely because it sounds like an Americanism to my ear. I wouldn't think anything of it if I heard someone say jeez to be honest

Same here 😳

I discourage "oh my god" though my kids are 9 and 7 now and I've started letting it go a bit as theyve got older. We also have a lot of friends who are religious and I think it's helpful for them to grow up with the awareness that some people will find it offensive. I think even if you aren't offended by something yourself it's a useful life skill to understand different language for different contexts.
I do think some language just sounds coarse coming from very young children. I also really hate "what the..." and "crap". I think if you wouldn't think it was appropriate in a formal setting then you shouldn't let kids get in the habit of saying it when they're young.

Posh people swear all the time.
Apparently intelligent people swear more than averagely intelligent people. By this reckoning I must be a fucking genius 😂

I personally don't like using religious terms as imprecations and try not to use them (though I'm only human).

I think a good rule of thumb is, if you wouldn't want to cause offence to one religion then you should try to avoid causing offence to other religions too. It seems only civil to me.

I

SIL could fairly say "I dont like it when you say.." Then a discussion could be had. But to assume ones own preferences can be applied to the world is one of the things wrong with religion. Perhaps discuss that.

Reminds me of when DH accidentally stood on DD1’s foot when she was about 3 and she exclaimed ‘Jesus Christ!’ That one was from me. Would have been grateful for Jeez!

Nope.
I don’t tell them off for any language. But I do put boundaries in place regarding proper swear words.

Neither of what you said would even register with me as a bad thing to say.

I actually hate OMG/ references to Jesus and Christ, but I was brought up a Catholic and we were taught never to use them. As in the F word would be preferable.

I find it interesting that in multicultural London, where maybe kids come from more religious backgrounds (and not just Christian), the saying of choice is "Oh my Days" which I love! It's not "blasphemous" and it's less fuddy duddy than "Oh my goodness"

At school we tell the children not to say things like ‘oh my God’ - we just say ‘we don’t say that’ rather than tell them off.

Or maybe they're like me (not fanatical by any stretch of the imagination) who might inwardly wince, but not say anything

My 4yo DD has recently started saying "oh jesus". She heard her cousin say it. I explained that some people get upset by it because it's using the name 'Jesus' in a way that isn't nice. She knows that i don't care if she says it in the house but she mustn't say it at school or in front of her religious grandmother and auntie 😂 i think it's important to teach time and place and respect for others views.

It's not swearing, it's blasphemy. If the child isn't Christian, then why should they adhere to that religion's rules? Other religions have rules around how people dress, what they eat etc - should the child be expected to follow those rules too?

If on the other hand, the child is being raised Christian, then they should be reminded not to blaspheme.

Almost thought I’d written this and forgotten 😆😆

I'm 66.. my Dad would tell us off.
I don't like hearing it.. especially these days.. l hear someone say " Oh my God" at least once a day.
I say " Oh my gosh" and taught my family to say that instead.

I'm a Christian and say 'oh god' quite regularly. I think of it as a mini prayer- I'm literally calling out for a little help/ asking god to come and work some of his magic.