Big OMG
Sometimes, an astonished someone just has to scream: "OH MY GOD!!!"
Anime that use this as Gratuitous English are always strange because they enunciate it like a Valley Girl—but they obviously intended the less... silly version.
Note that the Big OMG in more intimate situations has its own trope.
Rarely does their god answer, no matter how loud they shout.
Compare Big No, Big Word Shout.
Anime & Manga
- Pictured above, Joseph's Gratuitous English Catch Phrase in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
- In Haunted Junction, Haruto ends every episode with this.
- Principal Kuno of Ranma ½ used this a lot.
- So does the soldier in Full Metal Panic! who loses the bingo game and so also loses the prize of a kiss from the lovely Captain Tessa.
- Osaka's daydream from Azumanga Daioh.
- This scene from the anime Karin. It's also an example of a Big No.
- On Yu-Gi-Oh!!, a flashback of Pegasus finding Egyptian carvings had him shout "Jeeeesus!" in bad English. At least in the Japanese version.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's gives Crow a rather hilarious Gratuitous English "OH MY GOD!" Again, only in Japan.
- Escargon gives one in episode 88 of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, when his shell starts to crack.
- In the FUNimation dub of the Studio Shaft Negima Second Season, Haruna gets one of these after seeing her Pactio's powers.
- Kawamura from Prince of Tennis uses this quite often, among his other Gratuitous English, when he's playing tennis. There is one episode where he repeats the phrase over and over, getting louder each time, until he finally shouts it to the skies in a long, drawn-out "OH MY GOOOOOOOD!!!".
- Similar to the Yu-Gi-Oh! example above, in one of the Lupin III movies a truck driver leaps out of his exploding semi (it got hit with a missile, long story) screaming "JEEEESUUUUUUS!!" Particularly egregious because that's the ONLY case of Gratuitous English in a movie set almost entirely in America. Other yells of fear, horror, or surprise by background characters are in the original Japanese, with subtitles.
- In the original Japanese version of Pokémon the First Movie, the Trainer Ash fights in the beginning shouts this out, in English, after Pikachu fries all his Pokemon.
- You can always tell when things are getting really bad on GaoGaiGar, because that's usually when Swan belts a variation on this phrase out.
- Momoko from Ojamajo Doremi loves saying "Oh my God!" a lot.
- Garterbelt from Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt when he dies, accompanied by a GOD MY OH when he comes back.
- In one of the earlier episodes of Naruto, Gai responses to Kakashi's ignorance to whatever he's planning with this. Japanese version exclusive.
- A villain of the week screams this in Samurai Champloo when he is about to get crushed by, fittingly, a giant crucifix.
- The ending to Bio-Meat: Nectar. Understandable, given that the poor American soldiers just heard that the US of A is going to start making USBM again.
Film
- In a movie that consists of Ray Bradbury vignettes, the segment dealing with "the Veldt" ends with a psychologist discovering that two kids have fed their parents to lions in a "virtual" nursery. His reaction? A deadpan "Oh my god…".
- Troll 2 shows how not to say it.
- The worst part about it? Listen to the very end. He's not actually shouting "Oh my God!", he's shouting "Oh my Gosh!" - though it might just be a case of Gosh Dang It to Heck. Hopefully.
- Dr. Cockroach has one of these in Monsters vs. Aliens. The twist? It's a literal "Oh-em-GEE!"
- The Goonies loves this. "Oh my God" is stated 17 times, spoken by 7 characters. Some of the more drawn out ones include:
- Mikey and Chunk when Chunk breaks the small statue of David.
- Brand when he's about to fly off the road at high speed on a child-sized bicycle.
- Stef and Andi when they step on the rake.
- Mouth and Stef when they spot the pirate ship for the first time.
- Mama Fratelli when Mouth spits out all the jewels he was hiding.
- And finally topped off by the sheriff with "Holy Mary, mother of God" when he sees the pirate ship sailing off at the end.
- In The Wicker Man (1972), Sgt. Howie lets out a few of these in the final scene, as well as a well-delivered Big No. Given Howie's strict Christianity, it seems likely that he is deliberately invoking God, rather than simply using the Big Man's name as an expletive.
Oh My God! Oh, Jesus Christ!
- Pretty much a given, considering that he's just realized the locals are going to burn him alive and there's nothing he can do about it.
- In Rookie of the Year as the kid goes up to bat for the first time the mother who's watching the game on television starts chanting oh my god then it switches to the the pitcher who he replaced who chants the same thing, than finally it switches to the titular kid who says the exact same thing before ducking the pitch.
Mother: Oh my god, oh my god
Replacedpitcher: Oh my god, oh my god
Kid: Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god * pitch comes* Gaaaah! * ducks*
- A great example is shouted by Austin Powers when he discovers his wife is a Fembot.
- Tough Guys Don't Dance: The 'Oh, God! Oh, man!' from Ryan O' Neal.
- Volcano: From Dr. Jaye Calder(Jacquline Kim) after the La Brea Tarpits exploded and erupted lava for the first time on Wilshire Blvd.
- Happy Gilmore: Shooter Mcgavin said this when he turned around and saw Richard Kiel's character after he taunted him if he can drive the ball farther than Happy.
- Liv Tyler has a hysterical (and hilarious) one of these when she first hears the Oneders on the radio in That Thing You Do
- The Iron Giant: Kent when he notices half of his car is destroyed.
- Also hilariously done when Hogarth says it during dinner and he's just noticed the giant's hand in the living room... and he turns it into part of the prayer he's saying.
- Rick O'Connell gives us a slightly toned-down version when faced with a giant sand wall:
Rick: "Oh my god! Winston! PEDAL FASTEEER!!"
- Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, when Judge Doom shows her Dip (also counts as a Big No).
- Fifty-seven seconds in: "Oh my GOD! He's dating a fat-ass hipster chick! I HATE her stupid guts!"
- Jeremy Capello delivers this line in a fearful/incredulous way in My Best Friend Is a Vampire, when his vampire allure targets the wrong person, as his nemesis' dumpy sidekick throws himself at his friend Ralph.
- In Ghostbusters II, Judge Stephen Wexler, after shouting his sentence upon Ray, Egon, Peter, AND Lewis, as well as a nasty declaration of " having them burned at the stake" akin to the Salem Witch Trials, the jar of ectoplasmic goo used as evidence explodes, and the ghosts of the murderous Scoleri Brothers appears... Cue his reaction as the ghosts wreck havoc inside the courtroom.
- In Ten Inch Hero, Priestly delivers this line upon realizing what tampons are for, dropping the box in disgust.
- Marty Wolf in Big Fat Liar does this when (after taking a shower) he realizes his skin was dyed blue and his hair orange.
- Just Friends: A bystander says this when Mike accidentally tasers Samantha making her fall off of a balcony.
- Ace Ventura shouts one of these shortly after his revelation of Lt. Lois Einhorn's "secret":
Ace: Oh my God! Einhorn is a man?!
Literature
- Dave Bowman: "The thing's hollow...It goes on forever, and, oh my God! It's full of stars!
- In Little Green Men by Christopher Buckley, John O. Banion lets out a stunned "Oh. My. God." when he realizes he in fact underwent Anal Probing during the Alien Abduction he at first tries to dismiss as a hallucination.
Live-Action TV
- iCarly: Spencer lets this loose when Sam's boyfriend Jonah ruins his claymation movie in iHate Sam's Boyfriend.
- Carly, Sam, and Freddie also say this on various occasions.
- In iGo To Japan Freddie shouts the three-letter version when pushed out of the airplane by Sam.
- There was a WHOLE EPISODE called iOMG!
- Janice on Friends has this as a catchphrase, typically with short pauses between each word.
- Janice? This is arguably the catchphrase of the whole show - albeit more frequently used when Janice is around.
- Roslin in Battlestar Galactica; "Oh My Gods, it's Ellen Tigh."
- The Mouse Organ sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus.
- A mimed version by Donna in the Doctor Who episode "Partners in Crime."
- The West Wing: C.J. does this in response to Bartlet's comeback in the presidential debate.
- In a case of Gratuitous English for Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, Gao Yellow yells this upon seeing a vampire-type thing rising from a coffin, smacking it with the nearest blunt object to emphsize each word.
- House emits two of these in the same scene (with the same inflections as Janice above) when he inquires about Cuddy's missing underwear.
- This has been said near the end in almost every Pimp My Ride episode when they reveal the drivers pimped out vehicle.
- Take any American reality show. Rare is the episode when no big OMGs can be heard when they reveal the pimped out wardrobe/wife/friend/apartment. Shows with only young female participants (take America's Next Top Model) are extremely loaded with this...
- ...to the point where many Finnish viewers, put off by the deadness of the horse as well as the very loudness of the flogging thereof, deliberately will watch a Canadian or Australian version instead. They are known as a stoic people, and the usage of similar phrases is rare, usually a result from heavy influece of American tv shows.
- Take any American reality show. Rare is the episode when no big OMGs can be heard when they reveal the pimped out wardrobe/wife/friend/apartment. Shows with only young female participants (take America's Next Top Model) are extremely loaded with this...
- Andy has one of these on The Office when he realizes his girlfriend is actually a high school student. (Which sounds bad, but he says they "didn't do anything illegal...except knock over those mailboxes with her friends.") Jim then has a sarcastic "Oh my God" of his own in response.
- On One Day At a Time, Ann Romano turned it into a catchphrase. She didn't say it loud, but she did draw it out: "Ohhhh, myyyy goooood..."
Music
- Moon Zappa's first words in "Valley Girl", of course (along with 'like').
- The first words in the video for Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back".
- Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick's "The Show" features "Oh My God" being scratched.
- A Brazilian funk song starts with something: "Oh My God! They stole my Beetle!"
- How about "Oh My God" by Ida Maria?
- There's an excellent parody of the Valley Girl version in Marina & The Diamonds' "Hollywood".
- The hip hop song 'Oh My God' by A Tribe Called Quest.
- The last line of Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher".
- "Oh My God" by The Police.
- "Sunday Morning After" by Amanda Marshall has this.
- Jars of Clay's "Oh My God", which is definitely of the prayer type.
Newspaper Comics
- Comic strip Zits makes a commentary on the frequency in which girls spout this phrase; in one, D'ijon (Pierce's GF) and Sara gush over the the birthday present Pierce gave her- ergo, many omgs from both girls. On the side, Pierce's friend Jeremy tells him "Nicely done", to which Pierce responds, "Thanks- anything beyond six 'Oh My Gods' ranks as genius."
Professional Wrestling
- Joey Styles used this as his catchphrase. After a particularly high-risk spot, he lets out a high-pitched "OH MY GOD!!!"
- Alternately, if it involves luchadores, it will become the Spanish equivalent: "¡AY DIOS MIO!!!"
- You also have Jim Ross's Southern variant: "BAH GAWD!"
- "GOOD GAWD ALMIGHTY, THEY'VE KILLED 'IM! AS GAWD AS MY WITNESS HE IS BROKEN IN HALF!"
- Jerry Lawler's no stranger to this trope, either.
- Booker T says "Oh My Goodness"
Radio
- Griff Rhys Jones' Radio 2 comedy show had a recurring sketch about a stereotypical American sitcom called "Oh My God", so called because, indeed, at least 50% of the dialogue was characters screaming "Oh...My...God!" for no reason.
Theater
- Legally Blonde: The Musical, naturally, turns it into a song. A long, bouncy, joyful song.
- Noises Off features one of these, shouted very loudly by a man backstage during the middle of a performance. Fortunately, it coincided exactly with a point in the script at which the same phrase was to be shouted.
- Sweeney Todd get both this and a Big No when he discovers that the Beggar Woman he just murdered is actually his wife. He even sings it.
Videogames
- Franco Bash's Death Cry Echo is arguably his most recognizable gimmick.
- Hilariously done in Shadow Hearts: From The New World; when it is revealed just how much is at stakes, hyperactive Frank lets out a non-subtitled "OH MY GOD!" with over-dramatic body language. Nobody notices. Or cares.
- In The World Ends With You, Shiki, upon seeing her idol the Prince: "Omi- omi- omi- oho ho ho ho ohh! emm! gee!" Joshua thinks she's having a stroke.
- OH, MY CAR!
- Used seriously a couple of times in Portal 2, most notably when GLaDOS realizes that she used to be Caroline.
Webcomics
- One Zebra Girl strip featured a string of Big OMG's. It ticked off Sam enough to walk in and ask why everyone was suddenly being religious.
Web Originals
- Chester A. Bum's Catch Phrase... "OH MY GOD!! THIS IS THE GREATEST MOVIE THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!!"
- In his review for the Twilight movie there's these lines: "Oh my God, I got it! That kid is Superman!" "Oh my God! ...That is so hot!"
- A YouTube video called "Live Webcast Fail."
- The Annoying Orange: Occurs in Wasssabi when Lemon sees Wasabi.
Lemon: OH MY GOD! It's WASABIII!
- Idiots of Garry's Mod had a scene where an actor invoked this trope upon noticing his chat buddy being covered in headcrabs.
- In episode three of Team XGP's Outlaw Star Abridged, Hilda does this upon seeing a "Space-F-C" restaurant. McDougal's drive-through is closer, but "They don't have the Double-Down!"
- This single match Let's Play deserves a special mention... Try to shout OMG 34 TIMES. OUT LOUD. And that's as a part of an Affectionate Parody of Joel Gertner... or was it more of a bad impersonation? Well, YMMV.
- Chuggaaconroy's walkthrough of Pokémon Crystal contains this. Specifically, when he finds a shiny Koffing in Burned Tower. Lampshaded later in the walkthrough, given that it is Chuggaaconroy.
- Duke Nukem quotes the exact line from Troll 2 in Duke Nukem Forever Fail
Western Animation
- In King of the Hill, this is one of Hank's favorite catchphrases, usually denoting something he either does not or can not understand.
- Brian gives a truncated one in Family Guy while Stewie's beating him senseless over an unpaid loan, just before Stewie takes the Amusing Injuries to the next level...
Brian: "Stewie, this is crazy, you've got to... oh my god!" (gets roasted by a flamethrower)
- South Park has the oft-repeated line, "OH MY GOD! They Killed Kenny! You bastards!"
- Randy Marsh gets two separate Big OMGs when he realizes every senior citizen in town is driving at the same time.
- Candace of Phineas and Ferb gets a good one. Bonus points for actually saying the letters instead of the phrase.
- The Simpsons: Here's one from "Missionary: Impossible":
Homer: Oh, how's the TV reception here? Excellent, or ...
Q'Toktok: [wondering] Tee ... vee?
Homer: You don't have TV? But what will I watch when I'm sitting on the couch?
Ak: [slowly] Couch?
Homer: No couches either? Oh, man, I need a beer.
[Q'Toktok and Ak just stare at each other]
[Homer collapses to the ground] Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God!
Natives: [imitating and collapsing like Homer] Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God!
- A pre-credits sketch in Animaniacs makes fun of "previously on" clips in tv shows. Sprinkled amongst numerous clip are an action-heroy looking guy looking off camera while exclaiming "Oh My GOD!" after which an explosion goes off.