Jesus H Christ - Democratic Underground

Rann

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Mon Mar-21-05 03:58 PM
Original message

Jesus H Christ

What does the H stand for? Have a co -worker here every time I talk about gas or the environment he responds with "Oh Jesus H Christ"

Now i just live for those words but have no clue as to the H..

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ChavezSpeakstheTruth

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Mon Mar-21-05 03:59 PM
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1. Horatio

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RagingInMiami

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Mon Mar-21-05 03:59 PM
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2. Isn't it Homer?

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matcom

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Mon Mar-21-05 03:59 PM
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3. Heathcliff

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Zing Zing Zingbah

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:00 PM
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4. Maybe it's Holy?

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Technowitch

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:00 PM
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5. 'Holy'

Growing up Roman Catholic did have some educational benefits.

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elshiva

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:00 PM
Response to Original message

6. Actually, the initials for Jesus' name in Latin

is IHS from IHesuS. So his middle initial is H.

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underpants

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:01 PM
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7. Howard-it's a family name

Our Father, who art in Heaven, Howard be thy name........

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jswordy

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:03 PM
Response to Reply #7

12. Our Chairman, who art in DC, Howard be thy name... Heh.

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Redstone

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:01 PM
Response to Original message

8. "Hanging?"

I know, I know, very poor taste. But I couldn't resist.

Redstone

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jswordy

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:02 PM
Response to Reply #8

11. DING-DING-DING! One express ticket to Hell, please! Heheheh!

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Redstone

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Mon Mar-21-05 05:14 PM
Response to Reply #11

24. Oh, yes, I'm staying away from elevators and burning pits

for at least a week after that remark I made.

Redstone

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jswordy

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:01 PM
Response to Original message

9. Hosanna ... or Heheheh.... I forget which!

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redqueen

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:01 PM
Response to Original message

10. I always thought it was "holy".

:shrug:

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spunky

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:05 PM
Response to Original message

13. This came up on another board I post at, and these are the answers

Edited on Mon Mar-21-05 04:05 PM by spunky

I found:

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-jes1.htm

From Paul Tracy in the UK: “During an Internet dialogue, the question came up—why do people say Jesus H Christ? It never seems to be any other letter. It sounds American, but what does it stand for and where did it originate? Holy seems to be a strong candidate, or could it be from ‘Hallowed be Thy (middle) name’?”

There have been various theories, but the one that seems most plausible is that it comes from the Greek monogram for Jesus, IHS or IHC. This is formed from the first two letters plus the last letter of His name in Greek (the letters iota, eta, and sigma; in the second instance, the C is a Byzantine Greek form of sigma). The H is actually the capital letter form of eta, but churchgoers who were unfamiliar with Greek took it to be a Latin H.

The oath does indeed seem to be American, first recorded in print at the end of the nineteenth century, although around 1910 Mark Twain wrote in his Autobiography that the expression had been in use about 1850 and was considered old even then. Its long survival must have a lot to do with its cadence, and the way that an especially strong emphasis can be placed on the H.

Nineteenth-century Americans weren’t the first to take the Greek letters to be Latin ones—since medieval times the monogram has often been expanded into Latin phrases, such as Iesus Hominum Salvator, Jesus Saviour of Men, In Hoc Signo (vinces), in this sign (thou shalt conquer), and In Hac Salus, in this (cross) is salvation.
---------------------

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_033

Dear Cecil:

How come people always say "Jesus H. Christ"? Why not Jesus Q. Christ or Jesus R. Christ or something else? Does the H really stand for something? My future peace of mind depends on your answer. --W.B.T., Chicago

Dear W.:

The H stands for Harold, as in, "Our Father, who art in heaven, Harold be thy name" (snort).

Actually, I've heard numerous explanations for the H over the years. The first is that it stands for "Holy," as in Jesus Holy Christ, a common enough blasphemy in the South, abridged to H by fast-talking Northerners. Other colorful Southern epithets include Jesus Hebe Christ and Jesus Hebrew Christ, which abbreviate the same way. The drawback of this account is that it is so boring I can barely type it without falling asleep. Luckily, the other theories are more entertaining:

(1) It stands for "Haploid." This is an old bio major joke, referring to the unique (not to say immaculate) circumstances of Christ's conception. Having no biological father, J.C. was shortchanged in the chromosome department to the tune of one half. Ingenious, I'll admit, but whimsy has no place in a serious investigation such as this.

(2) It recalls the H in the IHS logo emblazoned on much Christian paraphernalia. IHS dates from the earliest years of Christianity, being an abbreviation of "Jesus" in classical Greek characters. The Greek pronunciation is "Iesous," with the E sound being represented by the character eta, which looks like an H. When the symbol passed to Christian Romans, for whom an H was an H, the unaccountable character eventually became accepted as Jesus's middle initial.

(3) Finally, a reader makes the claim that the H derives from the taunting Latin inscription INRH that was supposedly tacked on the cross by Roman soldiers: Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Hebrei (Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Hebrews). Trouble is, the inscription is usually given as INRI: Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum (J.C., King of the Jews).

Nonetheless, this is the kind of creative thinking I like to see from my Teeming Millions. With every passing day, my mission on this earth comes closer to completion.

--CECIL ADAMS

Most sites seem to think its from the H. in IHS or IHC (http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19960613
http://www.christianorigins.com/etymology.html )

But who knows if any of these sites are correct. . .

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bergamot

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:43 PM
Response to Reply #13

16. Ok, but ...

where do the expressions "Christ on a bicycle" and "Christ on a pogo-stick" come from?

At a minimum, they appear to be extra-biblical, at least in the translation I use.

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jswordy

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:58 PM
Response to Reply #16

21. No, EVERYTHING is in the Bible, man!

"Bicycle" translates into ancient Hebrew as "donkey" and "pogo-stick" is "sandals." So it's Christ on a donkey and Christ on sandals. And those are in the Bible, literally.

Damn, do I have to explain everything to you heathens?

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bergamot

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Mon Mar-21-05 05:17 PM
Response to Reply #21

26. Not everything.

After reading "The Da Vinci Code," I know where the expression "Jesus F*cking Christ" comes from.

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jswordy

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Mon Mar-21-05 05:21 PM
Response to Reply #26

27. That is in there, too, dood!

It's in that sexy scene where Mary Magdeline washes his feet with HER HAIR! Pretty steamy, but see, back then there were a lot of Ashcroft types around and they had to cut the scene to get the G rating.

Anyhow, that's the teasing nickname the Apostles gave Jesus after that little episode. Tongues were wagging!

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spunky

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Mon Mar-21-05 05:07 PM
Response to Reply #16

22. LOL. I've never heard those before.

And google had no comment. :shrug:

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Rufus T. Firefly

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:05 PM
Response to Original message

14. Maybe it's like the "S" in "Harry S Truman"

The "H" IS the middle name.

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Xithras

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:22 PM
Response to Original message

15. Any practicing Christian knows the answer to this...it's Howard

Edited on Mon Mar-21-05 04:24 PM by Xithras

Well...the kids do anyway.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, Howard be thy name....

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Dervill Crow

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:55 PM
Response to Reply #15

18. LOL n/t

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auburngrad82

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:49 PM
Response to Original message

17. Henry

I asked my Grandpa once and without batting an eye he said "Henry" so it has to be.

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Amfortas

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:56 PM
Response to Original message

19. Hannibal ?

that nasty ,I know... but there you go .

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UrbScotty

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Mon Mar-21-05 04:57 PM
Response to Original message

20. Hubert Humphrey (nt)

Edited on Mon Mar-21-05 04:58 PM by ih8thegop

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GoddessOfGuinness

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Mon Mar-21-05 05:12 PM
Response to Original message

23. These guys would probably know...

http://www.jesushchristrocks.com/

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luvLLB

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Mon Mar-21-05 05:15 PM
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25. the "H" is added so as not to take His name in vain....

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jswordy

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Mon Mar-21-05 05:26 PM
Response to Reply #25

28. Geez-o-Pete, isn't that splitting hairs? Heh.

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AngryOldDem

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Mon Mar-21-05 05:29 PM
Response to Original message

29. Another question

Sometimes I've heard "Jesus Christ in a sidecar!"

Who's driving? God?

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ScreamingMeemie

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Mon Mar-21-05 05:30 PM
Response to Original message

30. Helmut.

:hi:

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Dave Reynolds

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Mon Mar-21-05 05:44 PM
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31. I always thought "Herbert" nt

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