Linton Weeks of the Washington Post wrote about the use of the acronym OMG or just plain saying "Oh my God!". It is used quite frequently throughout our society, though there are those who don't use it for religious reasons. Yet he cites a Catholic School in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, where the they don't encourage it (obviously!), but it's not on their list of swear words.

Thoughts?

I have heard people, mostly late teens/early twenties use OMG, although typically it would be OMFG, since saying "Oh My God" isn't that bad, but adding the F makes it rude. On a side note, there is this tendency to extend OMFG to absurd lengths online, as evidenced by 10,800 ghits for "OMFGROTFLMAO".

Much more common is WTF, for What the F*#@. I use it frequently, and most of my friends either use it or don't think anything is strange about me using it. It is reaching the status of BS for bullshit.

I'll concur with Seanahan here: I've only heard (read/seen) OMG used sarcastically (or ironically) by those post-pre-teen.

When we formed a Web Task Force at work and I took notes of our first meeting, I was surprised to see that our acronym was WTF when I went to save my notes as "wtf.doc." When I said, at our next meeting, "Does anybody notice anything funny about our acronym?" the other members of the group just sort of looked at me and acted embarrassed. I'm the only woman in the group and they're all younger than I by at least 10 years. I think they thought a woman my age wouldn't know what it meant--but mothers of sons learn lots of things they never intended to. We're now the Web Working Group, BTW, and OMG, I think WWG's a real improvement.

Wordmatic

OMG? Whose G are we discussing? I'm all for Loki myself.

That is hilarious, WM!

I suppose OMG isn't used often, but Oh My God is another story. Surely that isn't just used by younger adults.

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
I suppose OMG isn't used often

I hang out in the discussion forum for a computer games publisher. The games are suitable for all ages and a high proportion of the members are kids. Many of the posts use OMG for no apparent reason, just as they use LOL and its cousins ROFL, ROFLMAO, etc.

I have in fact even overhead a teen use the initialism OMG in speech.

quote:

Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy:
OMG? Whose G are we discussing? I'm all for Loki myself.

Since the M is for "My", the G is whoever is talking.