blasphemous?

[DaSwede]

Trying to 'hear' the nuances of the phrase 'sired by.' I know what it means in Swedish, what I'm asking for here is your gut reaction to a sentence like for instance The delicate little bird, sired by God - would that be offensive, you know, as if God had actually been a bit... naughty? I don't want to offend anyone, so that's why I'm asking, before using it. I'm thinking that the phrase sired by might be perceived rather like invented by, designed by - but maybe not?

Thanks a million, I will try to get back here to thank you personally, but it may be a while before I do. Thanks!

[Quizmonster]

Chambers Dictionary says of the verb 'sire' (quote)...

"of animals) to father."

Certainly, the noun was used in olden times to address a human lord or master, but it would be used so nowadays almost certainly as a joke.
All-in-all, I would tend to avoid it in the situation you suggest. Although I personally do not find it offensive, I'm pretty sure there are some who will!

[spacechimp]

Why do you care if offend Christians?

[THECORBYLOON]

I would use the word "created" rather than "sired."

spacechimp, the word "blasphemy" is not restricted to the Christian religion although the Blasphemy Laws in this country are restricted to the beliefs of the Church of England.

[spacechimp]

I know quite well what blasphemy means, thank you very much THECORBYLOON. I simply assumed this as we are talking about God as a creator and with a capital G (and not Allah) and we are in northern Europe.

[spacechimp]

I mean that I simply assumed that DaSwede was primarily worried about offending his probably Christian readers/audiences.

[THECORBYLOON]

spacechimp, many Christians refer to God as Allah but no doubt you're aware of that already.....

[jno]

agree with QM (as usual); it means to be the father of, but almost always literally, not as a metaphor. If you believe in God, you may think he sired Jesus, but probably not anyone else.

[mycatis]

But isn't God meant to be the "Holy Father" so I cant see why ity would be offensive at all.

[Quizmonster]

Dear Mycatis, Would you ever say - of your own father - that he 'sired' you? I rather suspect not, other than, as I said in my earlier response, jokingly.
I was also trying to take account of the fact that someone called "Offended, of Sevenoaks" is invariably available to the media when things such as this arise.

[abilicious]

Is it not the case that sired is a word commonly used in the animal husbandry/farming community?

BTW, Spacechimp, is it not the case that only Christians with nothing better to think about are easily offended?

[Quizmonster]

An ex-colleague's father was a professor and thus a learn�d man. When, as a student, the colleague annoyed his father, the latter would exclaim in despair: "What have I spawned!"
I don't think that's so very different from: "What have I sired!" and I certainly would avoid saying: "The delicate little bird, spawned by God..."!

[mycatis]

fair enough QM (but to be honest you dont want to know what I would say about my father, cant stand the man lol)

[noxlumos]

I don't think it's offensive, quite poetic actually and my kneejerk reaction certainly doesn't send out alarm bells about God doing weird things with birds, rather just gives the impresion that sweet little song birds etc are a particularly divine creation. I quite like the phrase.

[spacechimp]

I didn't know that. The reason most likely being that it is a comparatively negligible number of Christians.

[DaSwede]

This is so enlightening, gang! Really, the fact that you don't agree among yourselves although presumably most of you are native speakers is actually more clarifying to me than if you had. Your personal reaction, noxlumos ("a particularly divine creation") is so exactly what I would be hoping for when writing that thing that I'm writing - but it does seem a little bit risky, if I'm to trust Quizmonster (as I have come to do, so thanks for your - funny - warnings.) THECORBYLOON, what I forgot to mention in my question is that I'm writing this thing in meter, so 'created' won't do - in this case. And, also, I wanted a 'poetic' and awe-inspiring word - but certainly 'created' is what I mean, when you peel the poetry off. Spacechimp, I'm not a religious person myself, but I do believe in respect. jno, it seems that even the concept of God siring Jesus - and nobody else - is provocative to some; I discovered that while googling for the word used in context... Thanks to you too, mycatis, and to you abilicious! To sum it up, your disagreements do help me 'hear' the word so much better!

[spacechimp]

What I meant was, if your intention is not to cause offence, it shouldn't be of much concern if someone is offended.