I think either way would be acceptable. A character who uses alternatives is perfectly reasonable characterisation, Some people who are brought up not to swear, rebel a little and will swear when their parents aren't around. I know others who don't swear at all. My parents are strict Catholics who brought me up not to swear. I wasn't even allowed to say crap, but by my mid-teens I was swearing in conversation with friends. I remember when I was twenty I accidently dropped the word 'shit' into a conversation and my parents were shocked I'd used it so casually. Now I have kids of my own, I try not to swear at all. I try not to bring them up not to. There are still situations in life where it's best not to swear, so if they know how to turn off swearing, because they have to in front of me, then that will only help them. I'm not as strict as my parents about it though. I tend to let the religious ones like 'Oh my god' slide. They're not allowed to say 'shit' though. I'm actually surprised that's being talked about as a milder one to be honest. Though I guess the hierarchy of how bad a word is, is based on upbringing.
A catholic priest was telling me about his time in the seminary...they played rugby against the crew of a visiting RN ship...exit, stage left, rough and rugged Able Seaman to complain to his Chief Petty Officer "Did you hear what that *@!=!!! priest called me?" Priests are well able to hold their own in use of vernacular! - Especially if they're pastor to a rough neighbourhood.
Lots to think about. I see the father as being strict about certain things, including this, but a fairly laid back vicar and parent in general. He died suddenly and my MC is very respectful of his memory, though is an atheist and does plenty of other non-Christian things that his father would have disapproved of. I'm leaning towards leaving the 'Jesus' exclamations in, just because none of the alternatives work as well for me, and hope that nobody thinks of it as out of character.
Take the beginning of a curse word and replace the rest. Fudge, Shizzle, and so on. Unleash your inner Ned Flanders.
Some of you guys are overthinking this. The simple words are the best. Shoot, biscuit, sugar, etc, & etc. Or for mild expletives, try darn, etc. And for my credentials, my older sister was shocked when aged 30 I called a former boss a "mongrel", which I apparently did three times.
If you notice that it only happens about once every 10,000 words, then you already know your character and if that's what you're writing, then it must be organic for him/her. Some of the most "pious" Christians I know have terrible mouths. The thing to consider here is culture. I hear the expletive, "Jesus Christ" from Christians and non-Christians alike because it's been adopted as cultural slang. It's amazing how those slang word sneak into our vocabulary unnoticed. I would encourage you to consider the culture you are working with before deciding on expletives. John Flanagan did a great job with expletives for his YA series's Rangers Apprentice and Brother Band. His Scandians are a take on pre-Christian vikings. The expletives invoke various parts of Gorlog, example, "Gorlog's beard!" or "Gorlog's tooth!" If the situation warrants you can evoke multiple parts of Gorlog, as in "Gorlog's tail and claw!" All of which feel completly natural in the mouths of his characters. I'm also working with a pagan culture so my characters exclamations are, "What in the Goddess's name . . ", "Absent Gods!", "Blessed Goddess," etc. These all feel organic to the characters who are members of a polytheist goddess worshiping culture. (That, and Christianity won't be invented for several hundred years after they die, so they've no notion of your Jesus fellow.) Personally, I hate it when people fudge their expletives. In the books I've read that try variants of fuck, you end up with "Frick" or similar nonsense that actually detracts from the story. I'd suggest going back and reading the passages you wrote. If you like the flow and it works for the character, keep the words. Don't change the expletive just because the character is Christian. Only change it, if it isn't working for the character and disrupts the flow of your novel.
Perhaps the MC could never say 'Jesus' or swear in front of his father. So, he learned to swear in Japanese, Arabic, or maybe Mongolian so that his father wouldn't know what he was saying. Maybe there was a swear word arms race with his father learning words and the MC learning new ones so that the MC could now say "shit" in 60 language. That would give you the opportunity to make the swearing in your book distinctive and interesting by using all the foreign languages. "Shit" in Japanese is "くそ” (kuso) In Arabic it's "القرف" (alqarf) In Mongolian it's "өмхий баас" (ömkhii baas)
I read a book where the character had their own made-up 'blasphemy' phrase. You always knew it was a word taking the place of profanity and the author made it just absurd enough that it was funny yet believable. (I had to look it up as I'd forgotten--the phrase was "crappy doodles"). You could employ this tactic to give your character something unique to them.
I tried, "Oh snails" and my critique group laughed at it, said it sounded like what you might read in a Batman comic. But 'scared the sweat out of me' works pretty well.
Thanks again, everyone. Just to clarify, this story is set in the 'real' world rather than a made up one, and in the modern day. The passages never read strangely to me, it only occurred to me very recently that Jesus might not be an appropriate exclamation for him.
Having had a religious upbringing, myself, I can say that there's a strong aversion to using the Lord's name in vain. I've been known to use pretty salty language, but tend to hold back on using "Jesus"- or "God"-based interjections unless the situation calls for it, like when I think I might genuinely fall off a ladder, or if someone almost hits me in traffic. In those situtions, they're less like expletives, and more like insta-prayers.
You might consider a milder expression for the day-to-day surprises that would be more in character for a priest, perhaps even deliberately antiexpletive like "Oh Goodness" or "Oh my gracious Lord!" but bring out the "Jesus!" when your story reaches a climax (perhaps that's the wrong word but you know what I mean). The expletive will then be more powerful because it will then seem out of character.
When I was growing up my sister and I used to swear, "God bless America!" said with just the right amount of disgust. If the provocation was really bad, we'd go on to, "Land that I love!" (Used to? Sorry, still do.)
Exactly. It really makes a difference if the character is in danger or despair and lets out a name they've grown up to regard as holy, vs. just splatting it out to let off steam. Something else: Obviously his dad wouldn't be RC; he'd have to be Episcopalian or maybe Greek Orthodox; but could the character have swearing channelled the impulse into Latin? "Deus meus!" or "Domine!" Or even Greek? "Kyrie!" Or would that be too esoteric?
I love this thread! Lol. I catch myself all the time. My go-to phrase for "Jesus Christ" in the expletive is "Man!" or "Ohhhh Man!" Because, therein the problem lies... not with Jesus.
which makes little sense when you remember that the exclamation is an abbreviation of an appeal for divine aid as in 'Jesus christ help me'.
You beat me to it, Catrin! I've never added the second phrase, though. My other favorites: Crimeny hell (I heard my daughter use this and almost laughed outloud- I did have some influence on her) Jesus crispies (borrowed from a friend of my college days) Jehoshaphat (used by the more dignified folks when I was a kid. Deseves to be resurrected.) Judas priest
Oh, for pity sake. I didn't realize this thread was a zombie. Fine. She beat me fair and square by eight years.
