Homer. As in "Homer Simpson." Don't ask me, it was Spanky's idea.
Jesus H Christ
by kenpodragon 13 Replies latest jw friends
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glitter
This is one story I heard - Mark Twain worked in a printers and he was printing up some stuff for the local vicar and he had run out of space, so he changed some of the times is said "Jesus Christ" to "JC" and when the vicar saw it he was angry and said "how dare you shorten the name of our Lord!!!" and demanded it was reprinted, so Mark Twain went and changed it all back to Jesus' full name - Jesus H Christ.
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Xena
What is the origin of Jesus Christ as swear word?
The use of Jesus Christ! is quite old but we can't be sure exactly when it began. It cannot have predated Middle English as, in Old English, haelend ("savior") was used rather than the name Jesus Christ. Shakespeare has several of his characters say Jesu! but earlier authors have the longer, and presumably original, oath by Jesus! This old oath now persists only s in "stage Irish" where it has become bejaysus.
James Joyce, with a great ear for vernacular language, put the words "Jesus wept, and no wonder, by Christ" into the mouth of one of the characters of his novel Ulysses. Jesus wept! We've all heard people say the words, but why? Why should anyone, when in distressing circumstances, offer a sudden observation regarding the lachrymal habits of their savior? In brief, it's because John 11:35 ("Jesus wept.") is the shortest verse in the Bible.
America seems to have been particularly fond of variants on this theme. First Jesus was shortened to gee or jeeze. Gee was further elaborated upon to give gee-whillickers, geewhillickins and gee-whizz. The ornate forms Jesus H. Christ! and holy jumping Jesus Christ! were first noticed in 1924.
Personally I wondered if it was for "honkey" cause they make him SO DARN WHITE!
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funkyderek
One of my favorite etymologies I've come to know from a Readers Digest the origin of the word crime. As I remember there was a old radio news reporter I believe who was Walter Winchell. He had the habit of saying about terrible things that happened "Its a crying shame". It became a oft imitated phrase which was eventuslly shortened to crime.
I hope you have found this interesting.You've been misinformed. The word crime has been in the English language for centuries and comes from the Latin crimen.