Style question...

[ellenmillion]

When quoting a person of pagan or atheist leaning, when using the phrase 'god help you' or 'hope to god,' do you capitalize God?

Comments

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Why not use Deity?

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

I would, but I'm editing their work and that was the wording they used! I'm just trying to do grammatical catches.

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Ah. Then I haven't a clue.

I 'play' with so many deities and pantheons that I usually input DOYC - Deity of Your Choice. Sort of a paganistic INRI.

[redkite7.livejournal.com]

That is a good question. I would say yes, because in the phrases' origins (afaik) it's still a proper noun, but I don't think it would matter too much.

-Rae, still exists on livejournal sometimes.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

This is how I'm leaning...

(Nice to see you! :P)

[a-r-williams.livejournal.com]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/God

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

As an atheist type person, it depends entirely on how annoyed I am. I think Oh for God's sake probably indicates more irritation than oh for god's sake, from my fingers. :)

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Excellent distinction...

[fire_my_spirit]

As a Pagan, I do capitalize God, because those particular phrases are phrases I associate with the Christian God and I find it polite to acknowledge that even though I don't worship that one. I capitalize it the same way I would capitalize the specific name of another deity. If I am referring to gods in general, as in "gods help you," I don't capitalize it, because that's not a proper noun.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

This is how I'm leaning, too.

[allykat.livejournal.com]

I am of said leaning and I do! (I also capitalize Goddess.)

However, since learning German I kind of want to capitalize every single noun so I'm not sure how reliable my impulses are, lol!

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

*laughs!* Yes, I had this reaction when I was studying German, too.

[ursulav.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't, if it's...mm...conversational in tone. I'm probably not following any deity recognizable as God, but I say "oh god!" a lot.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Considering you're why I need to ask, I did give this point of view extra consideration. In the end, though, I think it's a phrase that comes from reference to the proper-noun-God, so I'm going to go with upper case. I figure it's like... if his name was Fred, we'd say Fred help you, or Oh, Fred! Even if we weren't followers of Fred, we wouldn't change it to fred help you, or fred, no.

[jillbamfette.livejournal.com]

I try not to say the phrase, let alone type it, not because it's like, offensive or anything, but it just seems hypocritical. But when I do, I tend not to capitalize. while I know it's not technically correct to refer to the Christian god as a lowercase 'g' since it is a proper name, of sorts, when it does slip out of my mouth, it is just cultural conditioning, and I don't actually MEAN it, and by not capitalizing it, it shows I don't mean it. does that make sense? I'm an atheist. A pagan would likely substitute the deity of their choice by specific name, or perhaps 'goddess' if the deity in question is a female, since that alone would eliminate any confusion. Not sure if they would capitalize it though.

[ankewehner.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I do pretty much the same (you describe for yourself. I don't even have guesses for pagans.)

[amanda-now.livejournal.com]

If they are referencing God of the monotheistic religions (ala the father of Christ in Christianity) then it's capitalized because that's his name, so it's a proper noun. Just by them not saying "gods" or "a god" I would say they are refering to God, and if memory serves those phrases originated in reference to God anyway. If it's describing a particular being like Buddha or Zeus, they are gods or a god - lowercase, a common noun.

Whether or not God is real doesn't change the fact that God is his name. I don't believe Harry Potter is real but I still capitalize his name.

This is my opinion as an athiest who loves grammar so take it for what it's worth.

And now I've said God so many times in my head it no longer sounds like a word.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Yes! That's exactly the logic I was looking for. God is a proper name, and if I substitute another proper name into the question, the answer seems obvious.

(Also, I'm having the same problem with the word - it's starting to sound like nonsense!)

[sister-bluebird.livejournal.com]

I've never seen a consistent rule on this - some pagan magazines insist on capitalization, some don't. I prefer to capitalize only when it is a proper noun - God the Father, the Goddess, etc., but not the god Thor, the goddess Artemis, my gods, etc. Both of those phrases are using the structure that I associate with Christian phrasing, so I might capitalize, though in general I don't whenever I can get away with it. :)

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Hmm ... personally, I always capitalize in narration (to be respectful, I guess, though I'm an atheist myself) but in dialogue, I capitalize the way that the speaker is using, inflecting and thinking of the word -- so I would probably write "god help you" if I were writing a pagan/atheist character using it as a general figure of speech, but "God help you" if it were a religious character using it literally. I'm not sure if this helps in your specific case at all ...

[dormantdrake.livejournal.com]

I don't. (I'm an atheist.)

Jenny (too lazy to log in)

[(Anonymous)]

My question: Why would an athiest be saying those things?