>>As an example of how religion tries (and manages) to insert itself into all pores of the civilization it inhabits, I've tried to find an alternative to the common exclamation of surprise. In English, that is "ohmygod", or "OMG" online.
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>>Can't find any. I actually can't remember if I ever heard any other outcry. May be a shortcoming of my memory, or there actually isn't any ("oh my goodness" doesn't count as different).
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>>Even in my own language, where there actually are multiple possible expressions of surprise, more than half of them are religion... related. The mildest one would be "god spread you" (as butter or jam), often abbreviated to just "bokte" (godyou).
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>>Does anyone know at least one such expression which isn't hijacked by religion?
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>It's Deja Vu time again! You've done this one before!

Not as a separate thread. This time I've just heard too many times in one day.

>The Italians use "Porc e ma donna!" but not for use in polite company.

OTOH, the definition of "polite" is mostly dictated by religion. Even that "porca madonna" (that's how I heard it, not sure of actual words) sounds like "pig Mary" and hence comes from Christianity.

>"'kin' 'ell!" is a common Brit expression.
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>Interestingly "Struth!" is a Cockney and Aussie expression (you often hear Crocodile Dundee say it) but this is a compaction of "God's truth!"
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>The Cockney and Aussie expression "Blimey" is short for "Gor blimey" which, again, is a compaction of "God blind me!"
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>So it is hard to escape the religious connotations.

As I said, they've inserted themselves into every pore of daily life, and hijacked the language along the way.

>How about the French "Zut alors!"?

Why not? Though, the question was about the rich diversity of English.