** This would have gone in the writer's forum, but I figured it would be more fun and more active to post here. I'm putting together the finishing touches on a character for a graphic novel/multi-media novel project I've had in the back of my mind for a couple years now. The protagonist is a strong female character who gets thrown into some unusal and other-worldly situations. I want to give her a "catch phrase" for when she finds herself in hot water, similar in practice to Sam Beckett's "Oh boy..." in the series Quantum Leap, however I want it to be edgier... but not too edgy. I've been using "Feh" as a placeholder until I figure out what I want to use. Throw me some ideas people? If I like it and use it, I promise to send you a free first issue when it's completed. Some guidelines... go light on the profanity. "Aw crap" and "dammit" were tossed around as an idea, but I didn't like the sound of em, and that's about as rough as I want to go. I don't want it to be too comedic... "Oh doodles!" isn't going to cut it. Two to three words long is ideal. To set it up, a tough female detective makes a wrong turn into an alley, comes face-to-face with a werewolf and she says..... ?

I knew a guy who, when the circumstances warrented it would replace "Oh SH**"" or "Oh F***" with the exclamation: OH FILTH!

" ... and she says..... ?" "Oh, HI! ... I was just on my way to grandmother's house." Nah! ................. Prolly not. ;=[

This is probably way too silly for your purposes, but I once had a teacher who would exclaim "Oh horsefeathers!" when he was annoyed. :-)

LOL Doc... you're such a card. What if it was a vampire, or a sentient pile of lime jello? Wouldn't fit... :P I also thought about "Aw... fuhgeddaboutit" but figured I'd never spell it the same way twice, heh. (J/K... but not about the spelling part, heh)

"What if it was a vampire, ..." She could say, "Oh bloody shuckin's! ... Now what's a girl to do?" " ... or a sentient pile of lime jello?" She'd be coy and say, "Oh, ..... jello, how are you?" ... or she could say ... Nah, prolly not. ;=[

Or, how 'bout --------> "Oh, frick 'n frack! Not again!" I can see it in print now! Yes? ;=] ..... ;=] ..... ;=] ..... ;=] Yes? ?????????????????? ;=?

How about cussing in another language, like "Merde!" or "Donnerwetter!"

another day in paradise

frick 'n frack lol they were JFK's secretaries secret service code names- ( long story ) chuckles :) mom when she swore said "brick-a-brich"

Doc, weren't frick and frack comic strip characters from the depression era? Wouldn't want any lawsuits, heh. I like "merde" but I don't know if it's fitting to the character since she's of Austrian descent (some folks I know personally have the most gorgeous auburn hair in their family, which I put on my character) and I'm almost afraid to ask what donnerwetter translates to... A phrase similar to the paradise one is within the realm of possibility too... it's just too many syllables. "Here we go again..." maybe. Eh... Keep em coming, we're getting warmer...

Dang Darn Dern Frag Farg Narf

frick 'n frack were they the two cartoon crows

To set it up, a tough female detective makes a wrong turn into an alley, comes face-to-face with a werewolf and she says..... ? "Bring it On!" "Wanna Piece of this?" Rebekah Garner Sixus1 Media

One of my Heinlein favorites: "Tanj!" Stands for "there ain't no justice" There's Star Wars "I have a bad feeling about this..." How about "Not again!" How about "Oh, noogies." Ok, I'm done. Well, for now.

To set it up, a tough female detective makes a wrong turn into an alley, comes face-to-face with a werewolf and she says..... ? Arghhhh.....gurgle...snap....sounds of bones being gnawed OK, assuming she's faster than that, how about, "Great, just great!"

"Oh, lovely." "Isn't this lovely?" "Dang!" "Oopsie!"

"another tumble in the sheets" good and bad usage "another day in bliss" , "just blissful" (sarcasim) "yes mother, you did warn me" said to nobody inparticular under breath "should have taken the wallmart job" "oooh Grande latte!" if she smokes "damn no light", "got a light", "need a cig!" crimin'ay (crocidle hunter), peachy is always a good one goes good or bad "oh just peachy" as they run off a cliff. personally I like reading or seeing character that have something in their background that applies to the phrase or sentence. Hudson Halk just wants a capacino and it becomes the running gag. Indy hates snakes. etc. shrug

Actually, I kinda like "Oh Bliss" as much as I like "filth!"

Personally I like "Ay, caramba!" or "Ay, dios mio!". But you could always stick with something tried and true, like "FUBAR!".

Well - this may not come out strong, like a 'bad' expletive - but I've heard my gramma say "Shooey" and "Shucky-darn"

"Out of my way sperm bank" "Have you stopped beating your wife today?" "Have you stopped molesting your kids today?" "Men... can't live with them. Can't kill them... might as well beat them up" "Why don't you go die in a war somewhere" "I have batteries. What do I need you for?" Oh wait... those would be a bit too real world now wouldn't they.

Well, MY favoured not-very-bad cussphrase is usually "Piss sticks!" But it's a very english thing... :-D

"Bless my (or your) heart!"

Need to know more about her. If she comes from the present or past, she should say something appropriate to her environment. If from the future or fantasyland, you should invent something based on her beliefs, like "Crom!" (Conan the barbarian) or "Soul of the avatar!" or "Hokan's Claw!" or "Dragonfire!".

ki...nel seeklight

My thoughts... ...a tough female detective makes a wrong turn into an alley, comes face-to-face with a werewolf and she says..... ...well that's different. ...lovely. ...um...ok...(looks creature over)damn your ugly. ...well I didn't see that one coming. ...my day just keeps getting better and better. ...sigh ok lets do this. ...pulls out revolver unloads one silver round, werewolf falls, she says "thought so". ...oh great, now I have to wipe. I don't know, just a few off the top of my head.

On the sci-fi channel's FarScape show they made up some new words, such as "What the frell...." If you take a couple of letters from a real swear word and add some different letters after it (or pick a different word that starts with those letters) you can have the feeling of cussing, without actually doing it. "Oh shards" "Fudsucker" "mudsucker" "Oh frack" "What the flick?"

"Fardles"

...a tough female detective makes a wrong turn into an alley, comes face-to-face with a werewolf and she says..... "...not just the ugly stick - the whole tree!" "...fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down" (or shorten it to "Hit every branch on the way down, didn't ya" and then explain the whole phrase in the next frame). "...I have one of those lives" (some people have one of those days, I have one of those lives.) "...your face and my butt." (Got a match? Your face and my butt.) "Sorry, the last one just left." (Running gag: I shoot every third werewolf, and the second one just left.) "Time to mow." (Your *ss is grass and I'm the lawnmower.) My favorite, if the character was a man, and facing another man, would be: "Hey, how's your wife and my kids?" That was fun, although i realize I didn't give a lot of original thoughts. :)

Shiite muslims!

Porridge (old BBC program) came up with new versions of old anglo saxon words, 'Naf off' comes to mind...

Oh my Heck. - If you live anywhere in Utah or Souther Idaho you've heard that one. Chesse and Rice - I actually had a platoon sargeant in the army that used that witicism. NIF - now I'm fooked. The thing with this is 99% of your readers are going to know exactly what your character meant anyway, when you use the word substitution for colorful english expletives. Unless your going to get it printed by a major comic label or your intended audience is under eighteen I'd probably just say "Oh Fuck" rather than Oh Fark. As You're best bet is to see if you can pick up some austrian slang that sounds good.

Dang nab it ...or maybe "oh poo"

C'mon, it has to be a short catchphrase, so all those witticisms don't cut it. I'm thinking that something could be done using mostly intonation, such as: Uhh - OH! Another possibility is the good old standby: Oh, ffffffff...fiddle!

I'd like to second Movida's "another day in paradise " and throw in a "frognuts!"

OK folks, remember this is a catch phrase. THe werewolf setup was an example, but the phrase should work in lots of situations.

"AAAAAhh, FOGHORN!!!"

" Not another learning experience?"

A friend of mine a long time ago was fond of "Oh fudge!" Or: Craptastic Rat's Buttocks! poo (as suggested by someone above as well)

The technique I use is to say something in the beginning of the story, as in Duke Nukem: Time to kick ass and chew gum! And I'm all out of gum. And then in the rest of the story, everytime a situation develops just say: Out of gum again! Obviously come up with your own lines. Or else introduce a catchphrase early in the story, and make an acronym (is that the proper english word?) For instance, in the army we had a phrase (excuse the swear word): A self organised military fuck-up. The acronym for this became Somfu. So everytime a situation developed we would just say: Not another Somfu.

"To set it up, a tough female detective makes a wrong turn into an alley, comes face-to-face with a werewolf and she says..... ?" That sounds like the perfect opportunity for an "Aw, nuts." Or, if you're a MST fan, "Oh, poopie."

Oh jeez, NOT AGAIN.

I for one am shocked that leather-guy actually said "Fardles" in mixed company!

I've always liked: "Fuddlebuckets!"

Oh frell, not another faldercarb..
Ah..Wookie!
-what a technician said in range of Lucas when he dropped a gel or somesuch, and the actual source of the name 'Wookie'
Farging Barstages
-Johnny Dangerously
Puppy Biscuit!
Mommy, that man said 'Puppy Biscuit'..
-James Thurber, and one I use on occasion
yotz..
Farscape, referentially the reproductive organs..;)
I dunno..as above, when we 'pity' someone down South, it's 'bless his/her heart'..when you hear that, the next phrase will not be complimentary..;)

Actually I've heard that the term "Bless your heart" is Southern Baptist for "Stupid!"

A popular 'light' expletive here in the north of England is 'bugger' (probably corrupted from 'beggar'), as in 'yer daft bugger', 'oh bugger', and the less frequently-used exclamation 'well bugger me', a phrase which has since given rise to a joke concerning a magic lamp, a startled Yorkshireman, and a very literal genie ;)

"Oh... sh... atner!" "Absofragginlutely"

"spudnuts" ...it's a local donut shop here... Scarab

....or as an oath... "By Slick Willie's Cigar!" Scarab (that's my story boys, and I'm stickin' with it....)