A question for people who write G-d ---?

I do know why this is done, but I don’t know why it applies to the word god - which is most likely of German sources. There may a better explanation of the etymology of the word here - http://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/222...

but I’m not sure this is of note or more of a coincidence, as the link points out.

No matter what the root of the word is, aren’t religious scholars in agreement that God, in whatever form of the word, is not the name of the almighty? Isn’t it widely accepted that we, as humans, are not privy to the Lord’s actual name? If so, then why do we bother to protect the word God in its written form by writing G-d? I can more easily understand Jews, for an example, writing Ad-nai, because that pertains more to the “actual’ name of their Lord. And please forgive my ignorance - I believe I’ve noticed Muslims doing the same, but I haven’t seen All-h, which would make much more sense to me.

Also, out of curiosity, do you also write g-d when referring to other “beings” that are called gods, such as Thor or Zeus? If the word itself is sacred, does it matter if it is capitalized as G-d or written as god(s)?

I hope I’ve made my point clear, and I would much rather have posted this question in more of a back and forth discussion-based site, but I’m afraid I don’t know of one.

Thank you for your time in reading, and I hope, answering this. Please note that I’m not asking if you believe any certain faith or whether gods and/or goddess exist. This question is only directed at those who write G-d out of respect.