Re: virus: By George,
Eva-Lise Carlstrom (eva-lise@efn.org)
Thu, 5 Feb 1998 13:12:28 -0800 (PST)
"By God!" and similar phrases are in fact interjections. they are also,
as Brett pointed out, oaths. "By God!" is an abbreviated form of swearing
by God that something is true. "Damn!" used as an expression of surprise
of amazement at something, similarly, is an abbreviated form of "I'll be
damned if it's not true that...." In the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is
considered blasphemous to use such a phrase in a careless manner, rather
than as a solemn oath (as in "I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth, so help me God").
Words, being culturally transmitted information, are memes. So is the
concept of God, and of blasphemy. Blasphemy is a more complex meme
structure, relying as it does on the context of an existing meme construct
(a religion), and supporting its own reproduction with the threat of hell
implied by that construct. Mm, self-referential.
--Eva
"You see? I didn't go to college for nothing.
...It cost me thousands of dollars."
(Dmitri Karamazov, of the Flying Karamazov Brothers)