Because of the Albatross, I’m reduced to putting up social media stuff today, but there’s some good bon mots. Here’s a tw**t from Hugh Laurie, who of course is an atheist.
A tw**t from Hugh Laurie
September 10, 2014 • 3:05 pm
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Nice shot. I’m going to use that one.
Amen to that!
Your lips to God’s ear.
Burn! But many of the religious are reasonable, just not about religion.
b?
Slip of the ipad.
You mean you’re not the new and improved Diana MacPherson, version B?
The one that puts toilet rolls the other way round …
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You mean we finally meet her non-evil doppelgänger from the other parallel Universe?
Oh my God(*)!
(*)no religious meaning intended.
so, this one has the goatee and mustache? 🙂
Ha ha – I made the same joke!
or you could have the sexy uniform and a dagger in your boot like Uhura. 🙂
Yeah Uhura had the best outfit.
Yes, that one has a beard.
That wouldn’t be an improved version – that would be a buggy, released too soon version.
No, I’m more likely to the an “exhibit b” than a “version b”.
Now, how many of those who use the expression “Holy cow!” are actually Hindus, who believe that cows are sacred?
Enough said. 🙂
So from what religion does “Holy s**t!” come from?
That’s just a very apt euphemism for JHVH.
I’m not an expert on religion, but this quote from the Atheist Manifesto by Michel Onfray, offers some interesting clues to your question…
“There is no man-made foolery that has not been dragooned into the ranks of putative divinities.
For those who still doubt the possible excess of religions on the question of support media, let us consider the urine dance of New Mexico’s Zuni, the manufacture of amulets of excrement of the Great Lama of Tibet, the cow dung and urine used for ritual ablution among Hindus, the Roman cults of Sterocorius, Crepitus, and Cloacinus – respectively the divinities of filth, farts, and sewers – offerings of manure to the Assyrian goddes Siva, the consumption of her own excrement by Sushiquecal, the Mexican goddes and mother of gods, Ezkiel’s divinely ordained recipe for the use of human fecal matter to cook food…”
Apparently, that’s Christianity as well.
Well, Goddamn…
What you did there – I see it.
It’s nice to have a celebrity publicly make positive atheism comments – but moreso when the Hollywooder is genuinely dramatically talented and a good person otherwise, as Hugh Laurie seems to be.
I’ve been a fan ever since his role as the caustic atheist Dr. Gregory House.
You’ve seen him and Fry as Jeeves and Wooster, I hope. If not, I think the entire series is on youtube.
He also played a memorable George III in Blackadder, the third season IIRC.
That was Laurie? Holy cow!
The weird thing is that many of us Brits think it really weird seeing him playing House.
He’s a relatively new T*****r user but is very good value!
I once had the pleasure of flying with him to Los Angeles in Virgin Airways Upper Class. He was a sleep (mouth agape!) the whole flight, however. No chance to speak to him. (I did get Richard Dean Anderson’s autograph, though. He was very polite, even though I accosted him in the queue for the loo.)
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He was in the fourth series as well.
“Don’t forget your stick”.
“Right, I wouldn’t want to face a German machine gun without that!”
Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry also did a sketch show on their own, for four seasons I think, called “A bit of Fry and Laurie”.
They certainly did. The first three series in particular are very highly recommended.
I had forgotten about that. According to IMDB, there’s a fifth series as well that I haven’t seen (yet) with both Fry and Laurie.
indeed he did. hilarious. a tribute to just how good he is as an actor.
Here’s a salacious bit o’ Laurie to catch you up.
For those seeking deeper insights.
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* link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVRZQaLwiz4
Holy (#2) and Jesus F!%#ing Christ are the ones I use most often, unpremeditated. I can assure you that I spare no worry that I might offend a god or imperil my soul when uttering such phrases. The literal meaning is of no importance to me when using such phrases, they are purely a means of expressing the strength of an emotional response I am experiencing.
Personally, I love “Jesus Fucking Christ.” One of my favorites when annoyed in traffic. Naturally, the middle name is an adjective in the sense I use it, not a verb. That would make for some weird connotations, as would my first sentence here without the quotation marks.
One of the advantages of being a triune god, perhaps? Besides, all things are possible in Jesus Christ.
Exactly! Miracles are his stock in trade. Self buggery shouldn’t pose any difficulties.
I think we just discovered Recursive Jesus. It’s Christs all the way down.
I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but that really made me laugh.
Hermaphroditus Jesus, stolen directly from the Greek pantheon, just like the xians have always done it.
I’m partial to “Jesus Hang-gliding Christ!”
“Christ on a bike” – that’s a favourite. “Christ on a moped” when you want real emaphasis
On special occasions I sometimes throw in a “crispy” and a “on a stick,” rendering Jesus Crispy Fucking Christ On A Stick. Or sometimes Jesus Fucking Crispy Christ On A Stick. Depends on the rhythm of the moment.
I can’t remember what the middle initial of Jesus H. Christ means.
Haploid.
That’s funny!
This ex-fundamentalist is partial to “God fucking dammit”.
Hey, we’re profanity twins! Those are my go-to phrases also.
There’s just something so blasphelicious about “Jesus Fucking Christ!”
I think it may be one of those phrases, like Cellar Door (the classic example linguists have often used), that are close to some aspect of aesthetic perfection merely for their aural qualities, competely independent of their semantic content.
Or at least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
When my father was in the army [WWII] he knew a guy who used to say “Jesus Christ and his brother Harry!”
Not James?
Well, that blow the argument from Paul out of the water.
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“Odder.” A village in Denmark, yes?
It is, but no ‘Odder’ than ‘Fart’! (not in Denmark)
Isn’t there something problematic about bowdlerising the only name for something, when you feel unable to use it in full? During 1984, being superstitious, I preferred to write 1983a (like floors numbered 12A) – only I didn’t risk it on cheques. I could have caused real confusion if I’d written “198*”. (I needn’t have bothered: the universal surveillance is almost here.)
You could call tweets “twoots” or “micromessages”.
And dogs? “Catagonists”?
Some languages evolve like that. Well, even English does. But others evolve more rapidly, by explicit cultural deprecation when something bad happens, associated words become taboo.
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English too. During the First World War, German sausage became Belgian sausage and German bisuits, Belgian biscuits, and here in New Zealand they never changed back. The word for a defaecatorium changes every generation or so as the current euphemism becomes too familiar.
Jerry’s bowdlerisation also raises the problem of how to pronounce tw**t or d*g without using the forbidden word.
a buncha years back an elderly couple knocked on my door wanting to know if i’d be interested in their pretty bible books. i said no, i’m an atheist, at which both gave a pained “oh no”, as if i’d told them i had cancer.
seeing an opening, the gentleman slyly asked: “well, what do you say when you stub your toe?”
i’d never encountered this gambit before but i immediately recognized it for what it was.
i replied: “i say ‘oh shit!’ why? what do you say?”
to which, again in unison, they abashedly groaned as if i’d just told a particularly lame or naughty joke — which of course i had, on them.
apparently they believed my atheism could be dented if not defeated with such weak sauce.
Even Christians, who don’t worship Odin, call it Wednesday.
They don’t worship Wotan either…
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* and some call it Midweek, Mercury’s Day, or Day Four.
Wow, and all this time I thought the “snarky atheist” was just the HOUSE character! I love this guy even MORE now!