In the film “Napoleon Dynamite,” the main character, played by Jon Heder, repeatedly exclaims “gosh” when upset. Set in rural Idaho, this language is part of the film’s quirky, nostalgic landscape.
That’s about how most Americans think about “clean swears” nowadays — language that’s folksy, old-fashioned and quaint. If you hear one of these words, it probably also means you’re visiting one of the remaining cultural oases where language standards still discourage profanity.
“Always use the names of God and Jesus Christ with reverence and respect,” stated an earlier version of “For the Strength of Youth” published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “If you have developed the habit of swearing, you can break it.”
Utah’s dominant faith isn’t the only community providing such encouragement. The Amish common in Pennsylvania and Ohio also discourage swearing, along with conservative Mennonites, Holiness churches, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and observant Muslim and Jewish communities.
Ancient ‘mild oaths’
“Clean swears” or “mild oaths” aren’t a new phenomenon. Cuneiform texts from ancient Mesopotamia (c. 2000–1000 B.C.) show altered invocations of deity otherwise used in that culture for oath-taking, likely to avoid blasphemy.
While many in ancient Greece also swore by the gods, Socrates and characters in Aristophanes’ comedies both are on record saying “by the dog!” as a polite substitute for the name of Zeus — much like Romans later said “by Jove” as a substitute for “by Jupiter.”
The God of Israel prohibited “taking the Lord’s name in vain” in the Book of Exodus, which led to softened substitutes afterward, such as “by Heaven,” “by the Temple” or “by Jerusalem.”
‘Swear not at all’
But centuries later, Jesus Christ would teach his early apostles, “I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.”
Jesus concluded: “Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”
Even though “Heavens!” and “Good Heavens!” persisted in the later Christian diaspora, other early leaders reiterated Jesus’ concerns. James writes in the New Testament “above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath.” Paul likewise tells the people of Ephesus, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good.”
Early ‘clean swears’
As early as the 12th and 13th centuries, there’s evidence in old French and Middle English texts of softened, euphemistic swears such as “parbleu!” (“good Lord” in French) instead of “par Dieu” (“by God”). In the centuries that followed, there was an explosion in early modern Europe of especially colorful mild oaths, such as “marry!” (“by the Virgin Mary”), “gadzooks” and “zounds” — referencing “God’s hooks” (nails) and “God’s wounds,” tied to Christ’s crucifixion.
In 1757, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, we have the first known usage of “gosh” as a substitute for God in an English play by Samuel Foote, with a line that reads: “Then there’s the highest — and lowest, by Gosh.”
A whole assortment of variations on the word followed, including gosh-almighty, gosh darn, and ohmigosh. In 1775, the word “golly” was recorded in Gilbert White’s journal (another euphemism for “God”), with “gee whiz!” and “gee” as softened forms of “Jesus” not coming until a century later.
But a few years after “golly,” we have the earliest evidence for “darn!” in a 1781 note in Pennsylvania Magazine: “In New England profane swearing … use … substitutions such as darn it, for d---n it.”
“Darn it! darn it! darn it!” a character also exclaims in the 1874 drama, “The Arcadian Club.” “Drat” and “dang” were other, later variations, with Richard Cumberland’s 1813 “Lovers’ Resolutions” featuring the following in Act 1: “Dang it, don’t you spare him — A cross grain’d cranky toad as ever crawl’d.”
All these were softened euphemisms for “damn,” which was generally avoided as a serious curse referring to eternal damnation. That prohibition held in American movies until “Gone with the Wind” broke the cultural norm in 1939.
Clean swears, next generation
Other countries coined their own terms, with examples in Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Norse and many other cultures. Ancient Chinese literature often features metaphorical stand-ins, like “turtle” or “dog” as stand-ins for strong language. Some Islamic societies used softened, innocuous interjections like “Ya Latif” (“O Gentle One”) or “Wallah” (“by God”). And “crikey” shows up in Australia in 1826 (instead of “Christ”).
“Shucks!” appears in 1847 and in Mark Twain books later, referring to worthless corn husks and meaning “that’s nothing” or “nonsense.” Although not directly connected to a curse, some scholars believe “shucks” and “aw, shucks” functioned as a milder alternative to heavier language.
“Heck” appears on the scene around 1865, nearly a century after “gosh” and “darn” — thanks to Victorian times frowning especially on “hell” in polite society, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary.
“Oh my heck” followed in the tradition of “oh my gosh” and “oh my goodness,” etc. “Oh my heck” now shows up on advertisements, in online influencer videos and with conservative commentator Glenn Beck.
The latest iteration of mild swears
Early references to “shoot” include Sinclair Lewis’s 1922 reference in “Babbitt”: “Oh shoot, that’s just because you never tried a sedan” — with it becoming more widely used by 1934 as a stand-in for harder profanity.
“Scrud” shows up in the mid-to-late 20th century in American slang (especially among kids and teens), usually considered a variant of “crud” and functioning as a child-safe euphemism for heavier language.
“Jeepers” and “jeepers creepers” came into usage in 1929 in W. D. (Walter) Edmonds’ novel “Rome Haul” and Henry Fonda’s 1935 film based on the script, “The Farmer Takes a Wife.” The 1940 movie “Pinocchio” immortalized another mild oath used since the mid-19th century, “Jiminy Cricket” (which, like “jeepers creepers,” changes sounds while keeping the rhythm of “Jesus Christ”).
Oliver Goldsmith had described a character in his 1766 novel "The Vicar of Wakefield" who “at the conclusion of every sentence would cry out Fudge!” Yet this was not considered at the time a substitute for any heavier word (unlike “frig” or “frigging,” which was used in English as far back as Thomas Middleton’s plays in the 16th century).
This changed in recent decades thanks to children’s media, such as the scene from the 1983 film “A Christmas Story,” where Ralphie drops lug nuts and viewers hear him say “fudge” while he gets his mouth washed out for saying “the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words.”
“Flipping” appears in British usage as a euphemistic curse in a work by D.H. Lawrence in 1911. “Oh, flip!” was used in Peter Shaffer’s 1967 play “Black Comedy.”
“Freaking” started to be used in the 1920s through the 1950s, and became more commonly used in the 1960s–70s, since it could be said on radio/TV without censorship. Some linguists have placed “fetching” as a regional creation in the early 1990s among Utahns “as part of the fudge, freaking, flipping family of euphemisms.”
Modern caution about flippant oaths
The Quakers, members of the Religious Society of Friends, have been particularly focused since their 17th century founding on upholding plain speech and oath-free testimony, even to the point of often refusing to take oaths even in court, and instead offering a simple affirmation of truthfulness.
Shaun Marksbury, a pastor in Colorado, argued that Christ wasn’t issuing a blanket concern for all oaths, as much as “hypocritical or deceptive oaths.” He cites commentator J. Ronald Blue as stating, “For those who truly demonstrate the persistence and patience prescribed for believers, there is no need to invoke an oath … their word is certain.”
“Oaths are meant to strengthen the truth, but they actually end up weakening it instead,” writes Christian author Ray Fowler — suggesting that ancient usage of words that sounded religious, without mentioning God directly, “could make the other person think you were serious and still get away with breaking your word.”
“Your words can be powerful. Let them be powerful for good,” summarizes the 2025 “For the Strength of Youth” from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Make sure your language reflects love of God and others.”