" Jesus H. Christ " is a common phrase that refers to Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity. Regarded by some as vulgar, usually spoken in anger, surprise, or frustration, though sometimes also with funny intentions. It is not used in the context of Christian worship.
Video Jesus H. Christ
Histori
The earliest use of this phrase is unknown, but in his autobiography, Mark Twain (1835-1910) observed that it was used generally even in his childhood. Twain refers to an episode of 1847, when he works as a printer intern; Smith (1994) tells this story:
[Twain] tells a practical joke of a friend who played a revival preacher when Twain was an apprentice in a printing press that Alexander Campbell, a famous evangelist who later visited Hannibal, was hired to print a pamphlet from his sermon. While checking the galleries, Twain's partner, Wales McCormick, found that he had to make room for some dropped words, which he managed to shorten Jesus Christ on the same path as JC As Campbell reads the evidence, he sweeps angrily into shopping and ordered McCormick, "As long as you live, do not ever reduce the Savior's name again. McCormick is fussy and obedient, and then some: he establishes Jesus H. Christ and prints all the pamphlets.
Smith states (1994: 331-2) that "Jesus H. Christ" is a typical American profanity, and shows that at least in his experience it is spoken primarily by men. Quinion (2009), an English writer, also determined the phrase as belonging to American English.
Frequency of use of expressions - only in books - can be tracked on the Google Ngram Viewer utility. It seems very rare in the book until about 1930, and began a sharp climb in the frequency that began in about 1970 and continues to the present.
Maps Jesus H. Christ
Stress patterns
Some authors emphasize the practice of placing strong stress on "H", linking it to various ways for expletive inflection. So, Quinion writes:
Long survival should have a lot to do with the rhythm, and a very powerful way of stress can be placed on H. You may also consider it a loose infixing example that is loosely suited to the model words like abso-bloody-lutely > or tribu-bloody-lation .
Similar statements were also made by Dwight Bolinger, who spoke "Jesus H. Christ" in a discussion of the strategies used by English speakers to add additional pressure to "high-powered words" for emphasis purposes. Horberry suggested "Strong emphasis on H somehow improves the phrase's home rhythm." The Green of Slang Dictionary says "H is excessive in addition to rhythm".
Etymology
Using the name of Jesus Christ as an oath has been common for centuries. But the exact origin of the letter H in the phrase Jesus H. Christ is unclear. While many explanations have been put forward, the most widely accepted derivation is from the sacred monogram of Christian symbolism. The symbol, derived from the first three letters of the Greek name Jesus ( ?????? ), transliterated iota-eta sigma, which can be looks like IHS, ??? (with crescent moon sausage), JHS or JHC ("J" historically only a variant of "I"; see J).
Because of how this hearing-acting abbreviation can serve as a basis for vulgar slang, Smith offers the hypothesis that it is noticed by ordinary people when worn as an ornament on the robes of Anglican priests (ie, in America, Episcopal). The "JHC" variant will specifically invite the "H" interpretation as part of a name.
Etymology of the people
If this is the most probable origin of "H", there is still a problem of people's etymology; that is, the feelings shared by ordinary people (not always historically true) from where H comes from. Here, the possible origin is the name "Harold"; which is indeed mentioned by Smith (1994: 32) as the basis of the variant form, "Jesus Harold Christ". "Harold" may arise from a common misinterpretation (often by the children) of the phrase in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father who is in heaven is set apart to be Your name." This phrase can be mistakenly interpreted as specifying the name of God ("your name is..."), rather than the correct reading, which "may be hallowed by your name." Confusion will arise from the phonetic similarity sacred (IPA ['hÃÆ'Â|lo? D]) to Harold (IPA [' hÃÆ'Â|r? Ld]).
Ian Ransom reports another people's etymology in his childhood memoirs. The context is how local adults often shout at children:
I am from the dutiful area of ​​Jesus Christ H. Christ. As a child, "H" is the initial meaning of the middle of "Holy" and includes to honor Jesus while his name is used to randomize the young brain into a pure ball of fear. Most people shout simply "Jesus Christ," so the children are honored to hear that adds "H."
various etymology
In a joke made by a biology student, H is said to stand for "Haploid"; the implication is that because by the doctrine of the virgin birth Jesus has no biological father, his genome will be fully inherited from his mother, the Virgin Mary. For the scientific background of the joke, see Ploidy.
Variant
The number of variant forms, usually with "H" replaced by something longer, very broad. "Jesus Harold Christ" is mentioned above. Smith records Jesus Christ the Holy, Jesus Henry Christ, and Jesus H. Special Christ. Green Language Dictionary Slang gives Jeezus K. Reist, Jesus F. Christ, Jesus H, Jesus H. Mahogany Christ, Jesus Throws Christ, Jesus Johnnycake Christ, Jesus X. Christ, and Judas H. Christ.
For Smith, the presence of so many spelled variants is part of the humor - and the blasphemy - inherent in "Jesus H. Christ". He suggests that H offers "the power of taking the name of God in vain by adding something into it that imagination is invited to solve: What is H. standing? - Whatever imagination deviates propose and imaginer thrown into Enjoy."
Essential appearances in literature
In the novel of J. D. Salinger, the main character of Holden Caulfield expressed an expression when he learned that his roommate, Stradlater, was going out with his old friend Jane Gallagher:
"How could he call me? Did he go to B.M. right now? He said he might go there, he said he might go to Shipley too I thought he went to Shipley How could he call me?" I'm pretty excited. I really.
I do not know, for Chrissake. Lift, willya? You put my towel on, "said Stradlater, sitting on his stupid towel.
"Jane Gallagher," I said. I can not forget it. "Jesus H. Christ."
"Jesus H. Christ" is the first line of the game Edward Albee Who is scared of Virginia Woolf? Spoken by Martha, this is the opening salvo of a drama in which characters express their feelings with violent conduct. In the early 1960s, the term was considered strong enough as vulgarism that for Boston's production sensors needed to be replaced with euphemism, for which Albee chose "Maria H. Magdalena".
Quint (Robert Shaw), from Jaws , mentions an expression when he speaks with Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss).
Note
References
- Bolinger, Dwight (1986) Intonation and its parts: melodies in spoken English . Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. The quoted quotes may be read online on Google Books: [7].
- Bottoms, Stephen J. (2000) Albee: Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cassidy, Frederick G. (1995), "More on Jesus H. Christ ", American Speech >, 70 : 370
- Draper, Mark (1993) "Alexander Campbell", article on Christie Graves Hamric (ed.) The Mark Twain Encyclopedia . Taylor & amp; Francis.
- Falvey, Kate (2010) Dark humor in Edward Albee "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?". In Harold Bloom and Blake Hobby, eds., Dark Humor . Publishing Infobase.
- Horberry, Roger (2010) Sounds good on paper: How to turn on business language . A & amp; C Black. The sections quoted can be read online at Google Books: [8].
- Lennox, Doug (2013) Now you really know everything . Dundurn. The quoted quotes can be read on Google Books: [9].
- Quinion, Michael (2009) Why Q Always Followed by U?: The Perfect Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Language . Penguin UK.
- Ransom, Ian (2006) Waiting for the Rapture . iUniverse.
- Salinger, J. D. (1951) The Catcher in the Rye . New York: Little, Brown.
- Smith, Roger (1994). "The H of Jesus H. Christ". American Speech . 69 : 331-335. doi: 10.2307/455527.
External links
- Why do people say "Jesus H. Christ" ?, from Straight Dope (not convincing)
- Explanation from WorldWideWords by Michael Quinion (supporting IHC theory)
- Harold be your name! (has an interesting relationship with Epistle of Barnabas (9: 6-7) (written between 70 and 190 AD) which says "Eighteen is Me (= ten) and H (= 8) - You have Jesus".)/li >
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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