Jesus H. Christ

Jesus H. Christ is an expletive interjection that refers to the Abrahamic religious figure of Jesus. It is typically uttered in anger, surprise, or frustration, although often with humorous intent.

History

The earliest use of the phrase is unknown. In his autobiography, Mark Twain (1835–1910) observed that it was in general use even in his childhood. Twain refers to an episode from 1847, when he was working as a printer's apprentice; Roger Smith (1994) tells the tale thus:

[Twain] recounts a practical joke a friend played on a revival preacher when Twain was an apprentice in a printing shop that Alexander Campbell, a famous evangelist then visiting Hannibal, hired to print a pamphlet of his sermon. While checking the galleys, Twain's fellow apprentice, Wales McCormick, found he had to make room for some dropped words, which he managed by shortening Jesus Christ on the same line to J. C. as soon as Campbell had read the proofs, he swept indignantly into the shop and commanded McCormick, "So long as you live, don't you ever diminish the Savior's name again. Put it all in." The puckish McCormick obeyed, and then some: he set Jesus H. Christ and printed up all the pamphlets.

An early printed usage appeared in The Morning Democrat of Davenport, Iowa, on May 20, 1857, where the phrase was quoted as a novel expression and an example of increasingly elaborate profanity: "By Jesus H. Christ it is so."

Roger Smith suggests that "Jesus H. Christ" is a specifically American profanity, and indicates that at least in his experience it is uttered primarily by men. British writer Michael Quinion likewise specifies the phrase as belonging to American English. Angus Hector MacLean, however, reports use of the expression by a young female around 1900 in rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, indicating traditional use in Maritime English.