Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 58, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1919 — In French and in English. [ARTICLE]

In French and in English.

An amusing verbal war has arisen over the propriety, meaning and extent of the French phrase “mon Dieu I” NqMwo interpreters appear to be able The phrase In English would be “my God!” but the shades of association connected with the French form and with the English form differ so broadly that exactly equivalent expressions and usages of the phrase are difficult to reach. In French IL may be an Innocent exclamation, but In English-speaking lands it may be flat blasphemy. The variance seems to spring from the varying religious experiences of France and England after the Protestant reformation. In medieval Europe the presence and action of God In the religious plays habituated the populace to speak of him quite familiarly, and the sense of reverence for his name grew faint. In England, however, on account of the influence of Puritanism and then of Methodism, a great reverence for his name arose, and use of the term “my God!” became distasteful to fine natures. But “mon Dleu!” somehow sounds inoffensive. —Spokane Spokesman Review.