BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?

Subject: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: gnu
Date: 08 Oct 15 - 09:26 PM

As in "Jesus H. Christ!" I forgot to ask Dad before he died.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Oct 15 - 09:45 PM

HOLY

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST,#
Date: 08 Oct 15 - 10:07 PM

It stands for Harold.

"Our father, who art in heaven, Harold be thy name . . . ."

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Oct 15 - 10:41 PM

Some stuff in Wiki

Subject: RE: BS: H does the stand for?
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 08 Oct 15 - 10:43 PM

"Hell if I know"

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Oct 15 - 11:07 PM

You don't know? You really don't know?? I can't believe that you don't know! Wow! He doesn't know!

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 08 Oct 15 - 11:19 PM

My dad was the omniscient one.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 12:37 AM

I dunno what "H' means, but ""Holy" sounds credible.

My boss the nun says "Jeesum Cripes," no middle initial.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 02:16 AM

or as Alfred Spooner once said, ' meesus jeist all crucking fighty '

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Ed T
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 03:10 AM

I suspect it is not "heuristic"?

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 03:14 AM

Jesus Hucking Christ!

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 07:58 AM

For Chrying out loud!

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: MMario
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 08:35 AM

"Holy"

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 08:54 AM

It's a very polite expression used by atheists in order to avoid offending Jesus Christ and his flock. Jesus Horatio Christ is completely unrelated to Jesus Christ. "Jaysus Aitch," as he was affectionately known by his mates, was actually a baker's assistant, in charge of crumpet manufacture, at a small bakery in Wallasey in the 1940s.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Wesley S
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 08:54 AM

Human?

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 04:29 PM

Hallowed

cos Hallowed be thy name

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 04:49 PM

I've always preferred "Horatio". "Jesus Horatio Christ" has a nice meter. Fits right into a limerick.

Jesus Horatio Christ
Turned water to Champagne on ice
And for his next trick
He healed all the sick
And cured all the beggars of lice

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Ed T
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 05:30 PM

If he were Canadian, some would brazenly claim it to be Harper;)

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: JHW
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 05:48 PM

What does the 'H.' stand for?
I'm often asked and no-one ever guesses.
Its Hepple (my father's first Christian name)

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 05:50 PM

Hung ? Well, as son of a God he ought to have had a big one.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Bert
Date: 09 Oct 15 - 09:02 PM

You nailed it Steve Shaw.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST,DrWord
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 11:34 AM

In Joyce's Ulysses Bloom muses on the meaning of IHS, including the folkloric notion that it's short for "I have sinned" among other things. Ludicrous, of course, because the IHS simply renders the Greek in roman letters, a contraction of Jesus. Naethelesse, is it possible that the "Jesus H. Christ" is referencing the H [Greek eta] in so very much Christian iconography, crucifixes in particular? The H is often given prominence ~ the rest is folklore. Bloom also decodes the INRI as "iron nails ran in". But I am seriously suggesting the "aitch" derives from the IHS...
keep on pickin'
dennis

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST,laura
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 12:05 PM

"haploid". Having only 26 chromasones rather than the usual 42, due to being born parthogenically.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 12:11 PM

Er, that would be 23 instead of 46!

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST, Paul Slade
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 12:21 PM

Hussein. We demand a birth certificate!

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 12:31 PM

Would the Holy Ghost have to sign it?

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Gda Music
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 01:10 PM

I have always admired my "ship in a Dimple whisky bottle". Whoever wrote the 4 line hand written H note glued underneath had it in mind no doubt to keep us all guessing?..... he certainly has succeeded up to now!
(I do have a blog with pics of this bottle and message but at the moment cannot locate it).
However, the exact worded note is copied below

             A REMINDER
         THAT THE H IN BEING
    IS MUCH MORE WONDERFUL THAN
       THAN THE H OF FICTION

GJ

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST,DrWord
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 01:14 PM

We loves it below the line, where we can, apparently, post about the trio of topics verboten in the workplace, viz., sex politics and religion.
the banter and wit @ mudcat is often great fun & a terrific timewaster. Let's keep up the witty bits whilst answering the OP in the great ethnographic folkloric tradition if this place. My post above, essentially equating aitch with eta, was an aha of mine of a few years back, though it's simply a hunch lacking corroboration of any kind...
Anyhoo, while thinking of a few hundred 'h' words to follow up on Laura , EdT and others, I noted we'd already covered sex, politics and religion ~ I think the expression is exclusively uttered as an expletive. ¿Does the interpolation of the aitch perform some magical function which makes it 'not cursing'?
aaargh...back to me bowlback mandolin. Await folklore feedback and a bunch more heterodox suggestions...

keep on pickin'
dennis

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 01:30 PM

It is clearly Hezekiah, after the king of the same name who wass also of the line of David.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 01:51 PM

that bloke in Steps...?

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 02:38 PM

or perhaps it was Harold be thy name....

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 04:05 PM

"Horny", after all he did spend a fair amount of time hanging out with that prostitute.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Oct 15 - 04:35 PM

Well, I have no desire to cause that Wallasey wag Jaysus Aitch to turn in his grave, but I've always regarded that aitch to be a random insertion serving the purpose of mitigating the expletive. I've even tried it out with other letters of the alphabet, but aitch is the best. For example, "Jesus Q. Christ" simply doesn't cut it, and "Jesus O. Christ" sounds far too Irish. A variation I often employ when something very obstructive and frustrating has occurred, a frozen pea rolling under the fridge for example, an expression akin to "f***ing stroll on!", is "Jesus aitch bloody Christ almighty!" Mrs Steve is familiar with this, or perhaps a slightly worse version...

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 11 Oct 15 - 10:27 AM

"haploid". Having only 26 chromasones rather than the usual 42, due to being born parthogenically.

In that case, the resultant baby would be female, having no
male gene! I've never heard it alleged that Jesus was a girl.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Oct 15 - 11:10 AM

It would have three spare chromosomes to make up for the deficiency, though.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: JHW
Date: 11 Oct 15 - 11:13 AM

"Its a Girl" might have spoiled Christmas

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Oct 15 - 01:07 PM

But why is he on a raft? Or, yet, a pogo stick?

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Oct 15 - 01:20 PM

"Hippy" - Would have thought that much was obvious:

unkempt long hair and beard, sandals, scruffy tatty clothes, mind bending hallucinations,
scrounging food and booze, probably not had a bath since his cousin held him under water in a river.

Definitely not your respectable, reliable, kind of chap who could hold down a decent job in a bank for any length of time.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Bill D
Date: 11 Oct 15 - 09:54 PM

It was Harry....you see, in Harry S Truman the 'S' didn't stand for anything, so there was a Unitarian minister in Massachusetts (who also didn't stand for anything) who knew Truman and decided that to be fair, the H needed to be used in a similar manner to avoid people swearing "Jesus S Christ" and confusing him with presidential politics, which would have linked church & state and offended supporters of the 1st Amendment, thus putting the nation in peril from trivia mongers and eventually leading to the downfall of whatever state of Western civilization managed to survive the constant confusion of,............

umm... what was the question? And who is hiding my coat?

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 12 Oct 15 - 11:28 AM

"Our father, who art in heaven, Harold be thy name . . . ."

My dad's name was Harold and I still say it this way, have since I was a kid.

I also sing "Hark, the Harold angels sing" but with less effect.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Donuel
Date: 12 Oct 15 - 12:32 PM

Haploid is the most creative answer.

The answer lies in the anagram of jesus h Christ as the bible code predicts. Try both modern English and ancient Aramaic.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan
Date: 12 Oct 15 - 02:59 PM

IHS - same thought struck me , Dennis.

Regards

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: TheSnail
Date: 12 Oct 15 - 03:02 PM

Perhaps there were two in succession and the son of Jesus Christ was given the initial to distinguish him from his father just like George and George Dubya.

(But why is he on a raft? Or, yet, a pogo stick? Really? I thought he was on a bike.)

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Oct 15 - 06:01 PM

One guy I knew 50 years ago used to say "Jesus H Christ on a crooked crutch"

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 12 Oct 15 - 08:31 PM

halibut...the sign of the fish

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: frogprince
Date: 12 Oct 15 - 08:39 PM

"halibut...the sign of the fish"

There ya go; most people say Jesus H. Christ just for the halibut.

Subject: RE: BS: What does the 'H.' stand for?
From: GUEST,DrWord
Date: 13 Oct 15 - 01:33 PM

Thanks very much, Martin.
and haha frogprince

keep pickin'
d.