I need some language experts. I'm writing a romance with sci-fi elements, about an alien who crashes on a planet whose civilization is about the same as our 1930s. The country he lands in is militaristic and xenophobic. They shun religion--gods and goddesses have no place in their society. The people are trained/brainwashed from birth to respect the government and almost-but-not-quite worship their leader, who is a military general.
I have the MC say things like, "For mercy's sake," instead of "For God's sake," and "It would be a victory," instead of "I'd be lucky." Phrases that represent the mindset of the people. Now I find myself needing a substitute for "hell" and "damn," as I realized that those are both religious in nature. They wouldn't say them, so I need something unique, something that fits their culture. I don't want to go the Farscape route and just make up random curse words like, "Frell," or "Freck." I want the profanity to have significance to the people.
Not sure if this is the right forum, but I wanted some language experts to weigh in. What sort of words might they use instead of "Hell" and "Damn"? Any suggestions? Even just a nudge in the right direction would be useful.
I have the MC say things like, "For mercy's sake," instead of "For God's sake," and "It would be a victory," instead of "I'd be lucky." Phrases that represent the mindset of the people. Now I find myself needing a substitute for "hell" and "damn," as I realized that those are both religious in nature. They wouldn't say them, so I need something unique, something that fits their culture. I don't want to go the Farscape route and just make up random curse words like, "Frell," or "Freck." I want the profanity to have significance to the people.
Not sure if this is the right forum, but I wanted some language experts to weigh in. What sort of words might they use instead of "Hell" and "Damn"? Any suggestions? Even just a nudge in the right direction would be useful.