Random Thought

There's no good secular equivalent of "Amen!" as a succinct and enthusiastic endorsement of what someone's just said.

Usually I say "Snap," which may be a Britishism…???—I can't remember where I got that from. But since someone in comments thought I was accusing them of being snappish and curt, I've been reluctant to use it.

And sometimes I say "Right on," which has gotten me accused of being stuck in a past in which I never lived. I don't mind being considered anachronistically geeky, but when the antiquity of my phrase calls attention from that which I was seconding, it kind of defeats the purpose.

"Totally!" and "Spot-on," on which I heavily rely, just aren't quite the same as a good "Amen, sister!" or "Amen, brother!" And while I know many people of the faiths using amen as a sacred word have little compunction about using it in unsacred ways, I've no particular yen to do the same.

It may be time to make up a new word. As when "whatever" began to fail with regularity to fully convey my disdain, and I contracted it to "wev"—because true contempt does not warrant three syllables—I need to devise a decent substitute for amen. Short, sweet, and all our own.

I'm open to suggestions as I commence this important cultural undertaking.

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