411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
Jesus Harold Christ
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
English
Etymology
en Unknown or disputed. Likely a variant of en Jesus H. Christ, from the Christogram en IHS, an abbreviation of grc Ιησούς grc Χρῑστός Jesus Christ. An alternate theory speculates that Harold is a mishearing of en hallowed in the Lord's Prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” A third theory is that the middle name is arbitrary, used to mark the difference between profane and sacred invocations of en Jesus Christ.
Interjection
en US offensive An expression of surprise, contempt, outrage, disgust, boredom, frustration.
en 1974 w:Jack Olsen The Flight III: 10 Rounds a Second Alphabet Jackson Chicago, Ill. Playboy Press 91 https://archive.org/details/alphabetjacksonn00olse/page/91/mode/1up 0-87223-418-5 The BPBs members of the Brotherhood of Professional Believers would have these long discussions about how a simple man with a Mexican name had become the savior of Jerusalem and the whole world, and what was Christ’s middle name or did he have a middle name at all? One of the rooks said that he thought the full name might be Jesus Harold Christ, because he had heard his father refer several times to Jesus H. Christ. on
en 2007 w:David Thewlis The Late Hector Kipling Pan Macmillan 9780330538800 304 https://books.google.com/books?id=FRHb6C13kjUC&pg=PA304&dq=%22Jesus+Harold+Christ%22&hl=&cd=11&source=gbs_api#v=onepage&q=%22Jesus%20Harold%20Christ%22&f=false Since, as I mentioned, my arse is intact, I meditate first upon the pain in my balls. Jesus Harold Christ! I wonder if Monger's got some morphine kicking about. I wouldn't put it past him.
Usage notes
Potentially offensive to devout Christians, for uttering the Lord's name in vain.
Synonyms
en Jesus H. Christ
References
1994 Roger Smith The H of Jesus H. Christ American Speech 10.2307/455527 69 331-335