h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What does the 'H' in that well known british phrase 'Jesus H Christ' stand for?

I first discovered this phrase on a saturday many years ago when my dad was into DIY. I thought then it was some kind of zen like mantra that all DIY experts used, until I actually saw him in action.

I have sometimes heard the 'H' replaced by 'F***ing' (and I've mentally done it myself). I've always assumed that the 'H' stood for 'Holy', but I'm guessing.

It's very difficult to say what the 'H' stands for, especially since Jesus Christ wasn't his real name to begin with. 'Jesus' is a Latinicised variation on 'Yeshua' and 'Christ' is Greek for 'Annointed One'.

Well, since you don't often hear it, it's probably one of those slightly embarrassing middle names that Jesus wanted to have hushed up.

My bet is that it's Hilary.

Maybe he was working in the shed one day with his dad and hit his thumb with a hammer...

Perhaps he learnt it from HIS dad, who I understand was something of a DIY guy.

Its all part of the great con that is Christianity.

The H stands for "Ha, suckers!". Its their version of funny, which is about as mirthsome as having yourself crucified, probably.

My guess is that since cursing with any sort of religious expletive doesn't carry any power other than to inform listeners of the abuser's emotional state and lack of verbal control, adding ANY words to the middle of the name is supposed to emphasize some degree of additional import. (did all of you follow that? My run-on sentence for the day.)

Fruitbat

I think it stands for "Jesus Heroin?, Christ!". It seems that modern society has tried to deplete the basic human instinct to destroy ourselves, ans so when something like heroin addiction comes up people seem superised.

I've heard the H stands for Horatio (sp?) but I'm not into the vain usage of His name...dig?

Ah, 'tis a delicate quiestion indeed...

See, the 'H' in this sentence is there merely for one reason: to distinguish the two Jesuses from eachother. Most of us have heard about the Jesus Christ with the unfortunate faith of annoying some guys much enough to get a lot of nails run through his hands (don't worry - you have to be really, REALLY anoying to accomplish that!). Now, not so many have heard about his younger half brother (they shared mother - different father) - Jesus Horatius Christ.

And here's the thingie; using (or abusing) the name of Jesus Christ to curse a disturbing chain of events is a prophane and unnice thing to do, you see he has a certain religous importance to a lot of guys. His brother, though, hasn't. Therefore the britts all jump this poor fellow. A typical case of "now-I-may-not-be-much-but-I-have-this-REALLY-important-brother-of-mine-who-you-all-love-and-worship-and-just-wait-until-I-call-his-father-on-you"-complex.

Anyway, it's a theory.

This is possibly not frivolous. On a lot of crucifixion paintings, the letters "IHC" are painted on a sign at the top of the cross. As Jesus only got his Christ after his resurrection and ascension, I have a feeling that it stands (either in Greek or Latin) for "This is the King of the Jews". However, it is an easy enough trap to assume it is JC's full initials (allowing for a lack of the letter J in Latin).

Or possibly it is just to add emphasis....

The British actor Harry H Corbett used the 'H' to differentiate himself from the bloke with his hand up Sooty. Maybe JC also had an embarssing namesake.

Isn't it IHS? That's what I've seen, but possibly this is the swedish
version. I think it's for "Ihsos Hominum Salvator" or
something (expect lots of spelling errors, I do not know latin!),
meaning "Jesus saviour of humans". Don't take my word for it though.

IHS and IHC are the first three letters of the name Jesus in Greek letters.

The letter J was original just a variation in shape of the letter I. It was only later considered a separate letter, and Jesus was spelt with an I.

The H is the Greek letter Eta which was pronounced "ay".

The C was the Mediaeval way of writing the letter Sigma, which represented the S sound.

So writing IHC was just the first three letters of Jesus.

Writing IHS is slightly odd, as the sigma has been changed to an S, the letter iwth the same sound, while the eta has been left as a H, although eta and aitch have different sounds.

The "H", as any fule kno, stands for "Harold".

As in the Lord's Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Harold be thy name.

Yeah, he had his own backup group called the Harold Angels.
with just one album called the Harold Angels Recording Koral
or HARK.

One hit wonders to be sure.


-jwf-

Haploid!