Who decided that some words are inappropriate?
Question:
Good Evening,
Regarding words like gosh, gee whiz, etc., does anyone know who and when was it decided that these were words that had meanings referring to God, Jesus, etc.? As a child, my mother didn't like the word "gosh," so it wasn't said. As an adult and a Christian, I don't use these types of words, but it's not because I think they would be not respecting God, but because I do not want to offend. These appear to be man's idea of what a word is to mean and they have put a definition to that word to mean a certain thing. I'm trying to see when the first definitions came about and who decided these words were to mean what the dictionary says they mean. Were these back in the Greek and Hebrew languages and definitions or did this come along with the later things put in what we refer to as dictionaries?
Answer:
Every word in your note is an English word. The meanings of the words are recorded in dictionaries so that we can understand each other. The dictionaries don't create the definitions. They record the meaning of words as they are commonly used. Fancy dictionaries will give you the history of various words. Therefore, yes, people have created the meaning of every word through how they used the words. You accept those meanings when you use the words other people use in order to communicate.
As an example, Dictionary.com states that "gosh" is an interjection used as an exclamation or mild oath. It first appeared between 1750 and 1760 as a euphemistic alteration of God. You can claim whatever you want, but the facts don't change.