Where did this phrase come from?

Question

Where did the phrase "Jesus H" come from. I have heard this a few times and it bugs me.

Answer 1

It's been around for what seems like forever and predates Saturday Night Live as well as Mark Twain, both of which included it in their work.

It's more than likely based on the Christogram IHS. In Christianity three-letter symbol IHS represents The Christ / Jesus Christ. Jesus H is slang and may have originated from the common practice of giving people three names - a first name, a surname and a middle name. In this case the slang usage would be indicating Jesus H. Christ was the name of Jesus Christ as Christ being a surname rather than the actual fact of the word "christ" being a word to indicate one who is anointed.

The IHS is a backronym for Iesus Hominum Salvator which is the Latin wording for "Jesus savior of men."

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

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.

Answer 4

Cecil Adams of The Straight Dope has the answer to this on his Web site (thestraightdope.com).

I think it's funny. The H probably stands for "holy". The joke is usually on the type of person who would insist on using a middle initial with his name. I've also heard the joke joked on by people saying "Rama H. Krishna," same deal. I don't think it's serious or something to get bugged about.

Besides, Jesus's middle name was Andy. You know the song: "Andy walks with me, andy talks with me" .. narf narf

Answer 5

The rhythm suggests a missing middle syllable between "Jesus" and "Christ". The H may have been adopted from the monogram to fill this gap. It might also come from "Jesus Holy Christ". This seems to be the major answer but there are others. See the link posted. This seems to be the major answer but there are others. See the link posted.

Answer 6

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Good luck.

Kevin, Liverpool, England.

Answer 7

Well, Coach, my first reaction to your question was to take offense. But after reading all of these great answers I applaud you for asking it. I learned something new this evening. Thank you.

Answer 8

Most likely a Redneck said it.

Answer 9

a saturday night live skit

Answer 10

it came from your mom