By Heather Danforth
Utah native Neleh Dennis took home $100,000 and sparked an unexpected national trend when she was voted runner-up on the reality TV show 'Survivor 4.'
The blonde 22-year-old''s use of Mormon euphemisms for four-letter words - especially the infamous 'Oh my Heck!' - fascinated her fellow Survivors and took the country by storm, inspiring Web sites like Oh-My-Heck.com, which lists 'Nelehisms' like 'Golly-jee!' and 'Aww, Shucks!' in addition to the site''s namesake.
At the BYU Bookstore, Dennis''s stock phrase motivated the creation and sale of a popular new T-shirt after Rosie O''Donnell presented a similar shirt to Dennis when she visited the Rosie O''Donnell Show.
The shirt read - what else could it read? - 'Oh my Heck!'
'We actually had people calling in and e-mailing us asking where they could get one of those shirts,' says Hal Anderson, 42, men''s department buyer at the BYU Bookstore. To satisfy the demand, the bookstore had some of the shirts made up. 'They did really well. They were really popular.'
And the phrase 'Oh my Heck!' is just the beginning. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, specifically those in the younger generation hailing from Utah, have invented their own taboo vocabulary to express frustration and excitement without resorting to society''s typical no-no words.
It''s not uncommon at BYU to hear 'flip,' 'fetch,' or 'freak' used as general all-around modifiers, and phrases like 'son of a motherless goat' replace more vulgar insults.
'I just say the first letter of swear words,' says Julie Lund, 20, a junior from San Diego, Calif., majoring in English and philosophy. 'I''ll say ''Oh, Ess!'' or ''Oh, Dee!'' Sometimes I say curse.'
Lund''s favorite adjective is 'dang,' she says, but she admits that she 'had a bishop once who didn''t even think you should say ''dang''.'
Lund brings up a relevant point, since opponents of LDS euphemisms for profanity feel there is little difference between the Mormon version of a four-letter word and the real thing.
'It''s a step down, but when people say something, they know what it is a euphemism for,' says BYU linguistics professor William Eggington. 'For that reason, I wouldn''t advise anyone to use it.'
Linguistically, the words serve a variety of purposes, Eggington says. Profanity is often used to shock others, but it can also be a bonding mechanism. Using it around another person lets them know that you trust them, while at the same time informing them that you are not a prim or proper person.
Because of their similarity to traditional profanity, Mormon swear words serve these same purposes, he says. While they aren''t exactly the same, they draw attention to the fact that the speaker knows those traditional bad words, and could use them if he wanted to.
'When I first got to BYU and wasn''t used to these words, I translated them in my head,' says Benjamin Dunn, 24, a junior from Westchester County, New York, majoring in mechanical engineering. 'A few times when I first joined the Church and got to BYU, they''d say these words and I''d say, ''Oh, you mean this?'' and say the real word, and they''d freak out.'
Linguist Timothy Jay, a professor at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and author of 'Cursing in America,' studies the use of profanity from a biological, as well as a social, standpoint.
'I think our human brain has evolved cursing as an emotional expression,' he says. 'It allows us to communicate emotions to each other with language, rather than by hitting each other. We can tell other people unambiguously how we feel.'
Profanity, he says, comes from the space between the primitive brain and the more developed brain. It allows for a more efficient expression of emotions, and euphemisms for profanity serve this same purpose.
'Students on BYU campus who use euphemisms are still fulfilling the same function of allowing you to vent emotions and communicate emotions, but with less of an emotional package,' Jay says. 'I would say that this form of language (profanity of any sort), although offensive and problematic, is essential to language to allow us to express our deep emotions.'
Although Eggington disagrees, pointing out that there are whole segments of the population who get along perfectly well without it, some students who use LDS euphemisms for profanity share Jay''s opinion.
'With the way we construct our sentences, we have to have something to replace them,' says Janine Skousen, 23, a senior from Lebanon, Ohio, majoring in English. 'If we didn''t, we''d have to talk in a totally different way.'
The Church of Jesus Christ has released no official statements on the use of euphemisms in place of profanity, but encourages its members to use clean and intelligent language.
The Church''s statement on language published in the pamphlet 'For the Strength of Youth' recommends that members 'use language that uplifts, encourages, and compliments others.'
Eggington says that he feels members of the Church should be especially aware of the language they use, because they are able to understand, better than many other people, the sanctity of language.
'We should be careful how we use language,' he says. 'Even if we''re not using profanity, euphemisms are similar to profanity, and we are told to refuse sin and anything like it.'
While some students and professors are lining up on either side of the LDS euphemism debate, others, especially those uninitiated into Utah Mormon society, are simply confused by the words chosen to represent traditional profanity.
'What is a fetch anyway?' asks Dunn.
The often-humorous words chosen as substitutes can''t help but draw attention.
Anderson says that Mormon euphemisms for profanity drew viewers'' interest to Neleh Dennis on 'Survivor 4' because they were 'something different, and unique to our culture.'
'I think the other Survivor people found it odd,' he says.
Apparently, the rest of the country also found it odd - but endearing. After all, Dennis did take home $100,000.