what is Jesus H. Christ?

Question

in many of the novels i've read, i've often come across the phrase "Jesus H. Christ."
what does the H stand for?

Answer 1

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).

Answer 2

Jesus H. Christ is an example of slang serving as a mild, joking curse. The expression is most commonly used in a wry, sarcastic, cynical, or joking tone, although it may nonetheless be perceived as blasphemy, being a variation of "Jesus Christ".

H stand for Jesus HAROLD Christ on a crutch!

Answer 3

Jesus H. Christ is an example of slang serving as a mild, joking curse. The expression is most commonly used in a wry, sarcastic, cynical, or joking tone, although it may nonetheless be perceived as blasphemy, being a variation of "Jesus Christ".

H stands for Harold

Answer 4

Amazing that nobody knows.
Here is the answer.
H = hristos (which means Christ) from
the Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.

Answer 5

I think the "H" is for "holy". I've always wonder why they use Jesus as a curse word or by word.

I mean..., no on curses using Gandhi or the Pope as the chief by-word. Complains and insults in jokes perhaps but not ..., "Oh Gandhi" or "Oh Pope John Paul!" Know what I mean?

Answer 6

Holy

Answer 7

Holy

Answer 8

Holly,Hollywood!

Answer 9

I think it started out by people who didnt want to take the Lord's name in vain, so by adding the middle initial , it isnt his name after all...

Answer 10

Holy.