I think demons can say it, but they can't say the Latin version of the word.

That's a bit like saying why don't exorcisms said in english work. I mean, it'd be alot easier doing that than learning Latin. I think it has something to do with the Church's emphasis on Latin, or something similar like that.

God, not Christ. Maybe that's the difference.

Alley

Like the others said...they can say "God" but they can't say "Christo" or Christ.

I'm pretty sure it's the Latin...I think because the exorcisms are all in Latin, at least the ones they use on the show, which is a "religious language," they can't say or had the word Christo be said to them in Latin because of it's ties to the exorcism things.

Not sure. Probably for the same reason Ruby can. "God's honest truth! Or...whatever."

Maybe outing a demon requires something more specific and/or more formal?

One definite thing I have noticed is that some demons are more powerful than others. The demon from Phantom Traveler was a piddly little thing, could be wrestled down for an exorcism, couldn't toss Sam or Dean against the bulkheads telekinetically, and was a thin wisp of smoke coming out after bein exorcised. Compare to "Meg," who is telekinetic, could walk into Pastor Jim's church with no apparent difficulty, (which is impossible for lesser demons, if the dialogue is anything to go by,) and comes out as a somewhat larger smoke cloud. Compare either to the YED, (a.k.a. Azazel as we've more recently found out,) who doesn't respond at all to holy water, and is an even larger smoke cloud if I recall correctly.

(Also, the jacket is back!
http://supernatural.tv/gallery2/s3/sincity/wmplayer%202007-10-26%2019-11-32-93.jpg )

I think the 'name of god/God' thing only works on the low-level dorks. Has it worked on any since the airplane demon? And not to be blunt or anything, but the airplane demon seemed to be kind of like the safety scissors of the demonic craft drawer... ;-P

Or, y'know, what the person with the hypnotic bouncing elephant said above *points up*

Hee! Thanks.

Yeah, Meg was the one after him, with her anonymous brother. She (probably they, though Mr. Anonymous didn't do much of anything) could do holy ground but not holy water. I can't remember if she had a 'God' or 'Christ' said by or near her during Scarecrow before she came out as a demon. (She's probably that toxic, brain-eroding rubber-cement that sticks to everything, Mr. Anonymous was an olive green chenille pipe cleaner that pokes you in the eye and sheds) Then YED-in-John ("What are you 'n' God gonna do?" - pinking shears. Huge, stiff, rusty pinking shears) and Ig and Ook (who everything probably worked on because if the airplane demon is safety scissors, they're non-toxic glue sticks) from the apartment building. The next new demon would be the crossroads demon who may operate under different rules because she's kind of purpose-built to her task, I think. (She's the giant flaky spakles that look pretty but never stick where you want them to and get into kids' eyes) Then the sins (mildewy macaroni necklace), and Ruby.... Who I still think is Meg, so she's more toxic glue. Which suits her either way, because she's sticking to Sammy and rotting his brain. *nods*

I think she might if it served her purposes, whatever they are. I so want a canon explanation for Bobby knowingly working with a demon. I do think he drew her out deliberately, but there had to be some serious tension in the work room there.

I also think I love that elephant...

I don't think her helping to restore the Colt lines up with her being Meg because it's way too risky.

That's why I want to know exactly what transpired in the Colt workroom between her and Bobby. Bobby obviously didn't hold off on shooting her because of her human host; he's already shot her, so that harm is already done. Why did Bobby not turn around and use the Colt on her (whether it's Meg or not) once it was finished, to test it out? Does Bobby know something about her, or her connection to Sam, that made him choose not too? Does she have some kind of hold over Bobby, either on Bobby himself, or through one or both of the boys? Or has she, in the process of helping rebuild the Colt, made it so it can't hurt her specifically?

I still think Bobby's always known more than he lets on, particularly about Sam and the whole demon thing.

Also, she hasn't killed Bobby. We've already seen that Meg likes hurting the Winchesters indirectly, by killing fellow hunters and family friends.

Hmm. She won't kill Bobby if she has a use for him alive, and since she's worked with him to at least partially restore the Colt, I'm thinking she's definitely got something special planned for Bobby. (A thought which makes me shiver, that.) She killed Jim and Caleb to flush out John and the Colt, and since she has all the players out in the open and has her evil little birdie self perched on Sam's shoulder, and in essence through Sam has control over the Colt and has tested Sam on the 'Will he shoot me if he thinks I'm trying to help him save Dean?' thing... I'm still almost certain she's Meg, and she's got everything and everyone exactly where she's always wanted them.

Hee! The elephants are out of sync! :-D The icon's rather mezmerizing, and always makes me smile.

PS: I hope it's okay, I'm gonna post the whole craft drawer thing in my lj with a link back to here. If it's not okay, let me know and I'll take the post down. :-)

*blush* thanks

If you notice, her version of the fall is similar to the Islam creation story - in that version Allah presented Adam before the angels and ifrits and divs (various supernatural beings) and Eblis (Lucifer) and his followers refused to kneel to Adam and were cast out.

So, maybe she can say God, but not Allah?

That may be it...but it could also be that Jesus was present at the time of the Romans. So Latin is directly tied up with the beginnings of Christianity?

Quite possibly - also "God' has lost a lot of impact that the word used to have because of it's almost constant use as a perjorative.

Hm...interesting. I'm going to fanwank that demons can say "God" because it can also mean "god", as in a god. Bobby called the trickster a demi-god, yes? So god doesn't necessarily mean the Christian God.

Christ, or Christo, is the specific name of Jesus Christ, and it's symbols representing him that are demon repellant--crosses, crucifixes, rosaries. So yeah, I'm going with that. Otherwise, I got nothin'.

LOL, I don't know. That's a good point.

Good question. Either it's a power level thing, something the PTB forgot, a special significance to Latin, or maybe they can say Christo but flinch when they hear it. I don't remember it being specifically stated that they can't say it. Oh, well. Why is it that producers/writers always worry less about these details than we do?
P.S. I replied to your response to my reply (try saying that three times fast) in the comments for the first chapter of Favors Owed.