Who started this "Have a blessed day" thing, anyway?

[derby378]

Can we trace it back to a media campaign by some pastor or evangelist? James Dobson? Ted Haggard? Joel Osteen? Benny Hinn? The late Dr. Gene Scott? Or is it a practical joke from The Wittenburg Door that went horribly wrong? Can someone help?

[dipsydoodle]

1. It probably pre-dates the USA

so why worry about it ?

[AllieB]

2. It bugs the crap out of me.

What does it mean anyway? It what way is a day blessed, or not blessed?

[MineralMan]

3. I dunno, but...

if you want to freak the "blessed day" folks out, just respond with "Blessed be!" Be sure to pronounce "blessed as a two syllable word, though. Then watch their heads spin around.

[derby378]

7. Either that, or "May Odin bless you with many goats"

:rofl:

[MineralMan]

9. Oh, I like that one. (n/t)

[Obamanaut]

13. Mine is "And may Thor's hammer smite thine enemies." My wife

has requested that I not use that with any of her relatives - all repub with many fundies.

[Lex]

45. Oh, I'm so going to say that now.

:thumbsup:

[defendandprotect]

10. What does that mean ...?

[MineralMan]

14. It's a common greeting or farewell

expression among wiccans and other neopagans. It's well enough known among fundies that you'll probably get a horrified look if you use it with them.

[Marrah_G]

61. It is a Wiccan phrase used in a number of different ways

Loosely means "All is as it should be" or "all that is, is blessed"

[Dervill Crow]

26. I've said that when people sneeze.

Sometimes they choke and sneeze again. :rofl:

[LostinVA]

4. Midlodemocrat in the Lounge

[Midlodemocrat]

29. Bless your heart.

Bitch.


:rofl:

[CatWoman]

5. Derby

Have a blessed night :P

[derby378]

8. Bwaaaa!!

:hi:

[hendo]

6. Its a more religious version of

have a good day.

Simple as that.

I was always more a fan of the Chinese threat ,"May you get what you wish for"

[Sal Minella]

25. Think the Greek version is: "When the gods want to punish you, they answer your prayers."

[hendo]

49. indeed

most people don't realize the true consequences of what they wish for.

[kestrel91316]

11. Not sure. I never heard it before the 90s. At any rate, it's fundie code-speak for

"Hi! I'm a perfect Christian because I'm saved, how about you?"

They use it to gauge people's reactions, so they can keep their little mental list of who to hold in contempt. Part of their superiority complex. Somehow I don't think Jesus would approve.

[Kalyke]

15. Actually, it's been in Southern and Mid-Western colloquial language

for decades.

It doesn't mean "Hi. I'm a perfect Christian..."

It simply means, "Have a nice day," or "Have a good one."

It's not fundie code speak. It's simply something you haven't grown up hearing - which does not mean it's evil, weird or odd. It's just not something you weren't exposed to out there in California. I mean, it's kind of stupid for Tennesseans or Arkansans to say, "Hang 10, Dude," considering we don't have oceans. :eyes:

[MineralMan]

17. OK...well, then...

You might want to have another look at your subject line, while you can still edit it.

I don't think I have ever heard speech described as colloidal, although it's an interesting idea.

Oh, never mind. I see you found it already. :toast:

[Kalyke]

19. It was already edited.

[defendandprotect]

21. "Blessed" is obviously intended to have religious signifance ...

Why try to deny that ---???

[blondeatlast]

31. May you never sneeze, bless your li' heart...

For translation, read the "Y'all need some learnin'" thread...

[defendandprotect]

39. Isn't the response to a sneeze..."God bless you".........?????

[blondeatlast]

40. I say "bless you" and you might check a dictionary for

all the different meanings of "bless."

While you are at it, look up "amen," it'll really help when you do crosswords.

[defendandprotect]

43. We'd have to be mind-readers to know intent --

bless --

–verb (used with object), blessed or blest, blessing.

1. to consecrate or sanctify by a religious rite; make or pronounce holy.
2. to request of God the bestowal of divine favor on: Bless this house.
3. to bestow good of any kind upon: a nation blessed with peace.
4. to extol as holy; glorify: Bless the name of the Lord.
5. to protect or guard from evil (usually used interjectionally): Bless you! Bless your innocent little heart!
6. to condemn or curse: I'll be blessed if I can see your reasoning. Bless me if it isn't my old friend!
7. to make the sign of the cross over or upon: The Pope blessed the multitude.

[derby378]

24. I've lived in Texas all my life...

...and I've never heard "Have a blessed day" as a greeting until some 5-6 years ago, when it started popping up in conversations here and there. I just figured the well-wisher attended an evangelical Christian church or something.

[TexasObserver]

63. You are correct! It's clearly being used by religious types to skirt the law.

They know they can't work at a federal bank and say "God Bless you!" Or Walmart. Or the post office. But they can say "have a blessed day."

It's the typical way fundies say one thing and do another. They are not committed enough to speak their beliefs, because they want to keep the job. So they subvert, in ways that are too clever by half.

It's more of the same "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" that bible thumpers use to hail each other.

[MineralMan]

16. Only some of the perfect Christians, though...

It's the scrapbooking, home-schooling, nosy-neighboring group that use that mostly. Butter wouldn't melt in their mouths, bless their hearts....

[Kalyke]

18. Ahhh... another person from far outside of the region where the saying

means absolutely nothing more than "have a nice day."

Heck, up until I saw "Fargo," I didn't know half of what people up in your neck of the woods said.

[MineralMan]

22. Actually, I'm a recent Minnesotan...

While you're correct that the usage was common in the past in some regions, it has been adopted almost everywhere these days, and is now, indeed, used by fundamentalist christians to identify themselves quietly.

I've lived in almost every region of the country at one time or another.

[WolverineDG]

27. Judgmental much?

The whole splinter v. beam thing from NT comes to mind....

:eyes:

dg

[AndrewP]

12. How about "May you get what you deserve" ?

:)

[arcadian]

20. Baby Jesus

[Irishonly]

23. Have a good day

IMHO, many people using it are not using it in a religious way. I have always thought the phrase had roots in pagan culture. As with many things, the fundies may have stolen it for their code speak although most die hard fundies I know don't use the phrase.

[Bucky]

28. My first experience with it is from New Age/pagan friends in the late 80s

Lot of those pagans just like blessing things. I ignored it at the time, but now I see I was selling out The Man

[noonwitch]

30. I never heard it until I moved to Detroit from Grand Rapids

GR was a pretty conservative and religious community when I was a kid. I never heard the "have a blessed day" thing until I moved to Detroit, and heard black christians saying it.

[Jankyn]

32. I lived in Iowa and Missouri until about 10 years ago...

...and never heard it until quite recently, in CA, from evangelicals.

Now, "Blessed Be," that's a straight-up pagan-Wiccan greeting.

Most people in the Iowa-Missouri Midwest just said "Have a nice day" or even "Have a good one," as I recall.

I think this would be an interesting subject to investigate, but that's because I've recently seen a review of the new book by Tilman Alert called The Hitler Salute: On the Meaning of a Gesture. The greeting, "Heil Hitler!" wasn't just a means of enforcing conformity among Germans--early on, it was an identifier as well.

[Dervill Crow]

33. I don't know, but it's been around at least 30-some-odd years.

I began my "decade as a Christian" in 1979 and it was in use then in the Pacific Northwest. It wasn't code, it was just a variation of "have a nice day," and it doesn't bother me now to hear it, but as a general rule Christians don't bug me. Most of them have good intentions.

[Quantess]

34. It sounds new-age hippyish.

Depending on who is saying it, of course. But honestly, it sounds like something a new-age or pagan person would say.

[Goblinmonger]

35. Isn't it Wiccan?

That's not my thing, but I seem to remember that.

[blondeatlast]

42. The first time I heard it it came from a Wiccan--no joke.

Spoken by a friend of a friend working behind the counter of a New Age store which also stocked some post-grad books I needed (English instruction, fwiw).


There was also a poster there with "Bllessed be." on it, very Art Nouveau design.

:shrug:

[Lex]

44. Blessed Be. Have a Blessed Day. Pretty close.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fivefold_kiss#The_Term_.22Blessed_Be.22

[Bucky]

57. Also actor Brian Blessed

God bless the King of the Hawkmen!

[Marrah_G]

62. They have different meanings though

Blessed be is not wishing someone to be blessed but rather making a statement.

Loosely it translates to something like "all that is, is blessed" or " everything is as it should be"

I did not click the link but I saw the 5 fold reference. That is a very difference use of the words and is part of a larger ritual.

[onenote]

36. its been a common greeting in black churches for a long time

I grew up in and went to school in the south and I remember hearing it said by African Americans for a long time. It started as a church greeting, but has expanded from there. It doesn't bother me in the slightest when I hear it, since the person saying it is simply trying to say something nice, imo. When someone says it to me, I usually respond the same way I'd respond if they'd said "have a great day" or "have a nice day" or "have a good day" --- which is "Thank you; you have a terrific day as well."

[Shakespeare]

41. That's where I first started hearing it, too.

Mostly from African-American store clerks when I lived in DC. I'm always happy to have good wishes sent my way, whether it's "have a blessed day" at the store, or "Namaste" at the end of yoga class.

[treestar]

48. I've heard it from AA people mostly, too

[Lisa0825]

50. My AA SIL and her extended family all say it.

I don't know any white "fundies" who say it. I see it as a bit more generic than "God bless you." IMO, it is just a slightly religious form of "Have a nice day." I think people who take offense at it would take offense at just about anything.

[Fireweed247]

37. hypocritical fundies?

If there were blessed with intelligence they would realize everything they support is against the teachings they supposedly follow. It is almost always nutcase fundies that say it.

The hypocrisy is what pisses me off. If someone says it, maybe they should be confronted with truth about Iraq..."I think when Jesus said love your enemies, he meant don't kill them' or something similar. (not that Iraq was an enemy but you have to stoop to their level so they can understand) I have been really wanting a t-shirt that says "Dear Jesus, save me from your followers".

[kiva]

38. Blessed day/Iraq war...if only they rhymed you might have a point. n/t

[TexasObserver]

46. It's a fundie THANG.

"Have a blessed day" = "Are you one, too?"

It's their way of sneaking around the prohibition on wishing people in the work environment "God bless you."

[earth mom]

47. Just say HELL NO and nip this fundie bullshit in the bud.

:puke:

[AspenRose]

51. Would you rather have a cursed day instead?

I've heard "blessed" from Christians, Wiccans, Muslims, American Indians. What's the problem? You'd rather have someone wish you ill will instead?

:eyes:

[derby378]

52. I'll settle for "good"

:hi:

[Philosoraptor]

53. I've never heard it till a few years ago, & I'm a 57 yr. old midwesterner

I associate it scrictly with the born agains, but, I've been wrong many times.

[undeterred]

54. With all the shit going on in the world, why is this worth complaining about?

Would you rather be driven out of your country by an invading army? Would you rather be starving to death in Darfur? How on earth does a well intentioned statement become worth all this whining? :shrug:

[Bucky]

59. Honestly, if I could get rid of this saying but it required destroying the rainforest...

plus I'd have to sledgehammer smash three adorable kittens, I'd still think it worth the cost

[undeterred]

60. That's how I feel about strange men telling me to smile.

An offensive practice if there ever was one.

[HeeBGBz]

55. I thought it was a wiccan thing

Maybe the fundies stole it

[slackmaster]

56. It comes from neo-pagan bumper stickers of the late 1970s

:nuke:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

58. I don't know, but it's a great way to tell someone to fuck off.

[Breeze54]

64. Around 2003 it was used on a political message board as sarcasm!!

At least that's when I first saw it being used! :P

It was a way to sling muck at the CR freepers. ;)