Why G-d?

[jmatt]

Something I've seen pop up recently, people not writing out the word "God", almost always replacing the "o" with a "-", hence G-d.

Why is this happening? Has some new rule about God's name been announced that I'm just not aware of?

I hate to say this, but when I see it done that way, instead of "God" I think "God Damn" ("God Damn" is replaced with "G-D" in a lot of older books, and stories).

I assume it was done that way so as not to insult the religious back then.

Anyway, I'm not trying to be a dick, I'm just curious.

 

[stabone]

Where have you seen this? I can't say I have ever seen it....other than what you point out, being "God Dammit"

 

[Coelacanth]

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[Coelacanth]

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[KC-97HORN]

yep ran into this a lot in High School. Those of the Jewish faith believe that if you write the word "God" down, then that word, and the paper its printed on, in effect, could become a holy document.

Probably ran into it 30-40 times in H.S.

 

[Statalyzer]

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[zzzz]

But they're allowed to draw cartoons featuring God, right?

 

[LadyHornAustin]

I'm Jewish so the whole "G-d" thing isn't new to me. One thing to keep in mind is that this tradition goes back to biblical times, well before the custom of blanking out profanity in popular literature was developed.

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[theropods]

What do you mean, you people?

 

[Napoleon]

It's totally a Jew thing. (For exactly the reasons stated above.)

But I've got a new theory, maybe it comes from Hebrew not having real vowels. Hmmmm...? Has anyone ever thought about that?

(And Hebrew's pertinent, because Judaism came before Christianity and Islam in the line of Western Civilization monotheism.)

Personally, I wrote "God" on a prayer that I stuck in the Wailing Wall. But I'm a little different like that.

 

[jmatt]

Okay, I suppose that explains it, at least most of the time.

I've seen it in a couple of posts here, in a PM I got from someone here, and in posts on a couple of other boards I wander through on occasion.

Seems odd to me, but does make sense when it's explained.

Though the main reason I asked is because I ran across it on a website while doing some random surfing a couple of days ago. One that is most definitely not related to the Jewish faith... So I'm guessing some ultra-conservative Christian folks feel the same way?

 

[BattleshipTexas]

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[ScoPro]

It's just a bunch of gawddam nonsense, IMO.