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I've seen this used on the web as a translation for "oh my God" . Even though, as far as I know, there is a more literal translation (боже мой) which seems also to be in common use

So ... what's the link between God and alcoholic drinks? Or, possibly, God and sticky tape (I'm not quite clear what sort of "scotch" is being referred to)

Is it a phrase widely used? What sort of situations?

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    Would you please provide the source? I never heard it in any other situation, but dropping a roll of sticky tape.And that's not connected with God.
    – V.V.
    Mar 5, 2017 at 18:27
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    It seems to be some kind of a meme: thisishorosho.ru/wiki/Скотч
    – Quassnoi
    Mar 5, 2017 at 19:58
  • yes, that's where I heard it :) I didn't know they had their own wiki though! Mar 8, 2017 at 3:48
  • Here the word "Скотч" is used by analogy with the word "бог" from the phrase "oh my god"
    – XDme
    Mar 11, 2017 at 7:12

2 Answers 2

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Скотч (Scotch - trademarked by 3M) - clear tape that is used in the office and in school. It became an internet meme, as provided in a link by Quassnoi. Just like Americans like to say that duct tape can fix any problem, the clear tape can be used in the same way to fix anything. Hence there is a notion that "скотч" is god, because of its omnipotence. The phrase "о, мой скотч" is a calque from English "Oh, my god / omg", replacing "god" with "скотч".

An alternative form is "О Скотче," similar to Russian "о Боже."

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It is simply a kind of a joke. Russians tend to add new words into well-known proverbs and idioms. They would say " о мой лук" or "о мой краб" instead of a traditional experession just for fun. I very much remember my friend saying "oi-oi-oi moi babUshki"

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