I would say, yeah, it is meaningless shorthand to me.

Well, sure.

IME people don't use it.

And in mine they do.

When I used to know the commandments, I knew them in order. It never occurred to me or those encouraging its learning to do otherwise, I think. Perhaps the difference is that I grew up in Christian countries, but I've experienced it even since leaving them.

Unrelated to religion, someone asked me the other day if my breasts were real. I ran quickly through startled, defensive, proud, and shill for DKNY sports undergarments.

I think it is rude and a compliment.

When we had to memorize the Bill of Rights in order in high school, we called the amendment the Phil M_____ amendment. He was a fellow student who also wore muscle shirts to school. He had 2 bare arms.

It's totally rude!

Absolutely. I want to draw an analogy of exactly how rude that it is, but I can't think of anything that compares.

I know that I have, at some point in my life, heard people referring to commandments by number, because I had to look them up to know what they were talking about. But I don't think it's happened recently, so maybe it's gone out of fashion.

I think it is rude and a compliment.

Hmm. Every pair of boobs I know is false looks like crap. I'm totally not feeling the compliment.

I only know the first three or four commandments (and let's be honest: they get repetitive after a little while, and there turn out not to be only 10 of them anyway), but it's got to be important to believers, since they actually count off the greatest hits version.

someone asked me the other day if my breasts were real.

You know, I have never had this happen. I mean, I might haul off and slug anybody who did ask me, because it's unbelieveably rude, so I would remember it if it had happened.

I'd say I've very rarely heard reference to individual commandments by their number. I wouldn't take not knowing the numbers or the order as any big deal, whatever someone's religious background/identification. (Though seriously, the first is pretty obvious.)

But I think the standard you ought in meet is a fuck of a lot higher when you're part of a movement to breach separation of church and state in order to use some Ten Commandments Magic Bullet on all society's ills.

Hmm. Every pair of boobs I know is false looks like crap. I'm totally not feeling the compliment.

That's the ones you KNOW are false. Good ones aren't so obvious. I'd say if she had to ask it means they look really good -- if they didn't she'd already know.

That's the ones you KNOW are false. Good ones aren't so obvious.

Exactly why someone thinking mine are false doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy. If they're good, the question shouldn't even come up.

I edited. If they're false and look false she doesn't have to ask. If they look awesome she has to ask to find out whether you grew them or bought them.