Ooh Jesus H. Christ!

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

My friends and I were wondering what does the H. stand for when people say Jesus H. Christ?

And where did that come from?

[Scott & Lai 12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_H._Christ

[Nagishkaw 510]

The pit of hell. It's blasphemy.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_H._Christ

One factor in the transmutation of the monogram into the expression Jesus H. Christ may be that when the first syllable of Jesus Christ is strongly emphasised (as some speakers of English may do when cursing), the rhythm suggests a missing middle syllable between Jesus and Christ. The H may have been adopted from the monogram to fill this gap.^{[citation needed]}

[Not Available 0]

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

[Scott & Lai 12]

The pit of hell. It's blasphemy.

Indeed, but Jesus said even blasphemy against the Son will be forgiven.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

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).

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

[Jenn! 918]

I always thought it was Holy.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I always thought it was Holy.

The H stands for Holy. Ya know that's what me and my friends came up with too.

[Sassy1natl 0]

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).

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

Mythbusters...VJ style

[Scott & Lai 12]

I always thought it was Holy.

Though I seriously doubt that when people use that expression, the idea of holiness is anywhere in their thoughts...

[Nessa 23]

In BRazil we don't have the need for a middle name like here. So as far as I'm concerned it's an American thing, to make jesus sound more americanized.

[Alex+R 0]

I thought his middle name was "Tapdancing"?

[Nessa 23]

u ok alex?

[pedroh 21]

ay dios mio!!!

or like grandma would say, jesus maria y jose!!