# Jesus H Christ **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 3, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798 "2003-05-03T04:16:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mwmcmahan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@mwmcmahan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwmcmahan)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/1 "2003-05-03T04:16:31Z")
referring to the question of why people say Jesus H Christ goes back to a 60s joke. Something happens and a guy says Jesus H Christ and someone asks why. He says it stands for Hallmark because GOD only sent the very best. An old commercial that said when you only want to send the very best. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/2 "2003-05-03T21:50:13Z")
Well, except that [this site](http://www.takeourword.com/page2.html) dates “Jesus H. Christ” to 1924. Do you have a cite for the existance of the joke, and linking it to the creation of the phrase, rather than merely using an already existing phrase? [Link to the column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_033) ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/3 "2003-05-03T23:22:39Z")
I’ve always thought it was a mickey-take of Harry S. Truman… well, unfounded rumours have to start somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/4 "2003-05-04T02:02:54Z")
When I first joined the board, it would never have occurred to me to search the threads on the Message Board to see if someone had already asked a question or proposed an answer to one of Cecil’s columns or a Staff report. These days I do it automatically(except when I forget). If you search the SDMB for follow-up threads for that colunm(done by typing in \, the H being unsearchable), you get [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=594063&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=594063&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending) , 43 threads on the subject. The answers are usually there. PS. The answer is, it first appears in print in 1892. Additionally, Mark Twain, wrinting in 1910 in his autobiography, says that it was common in the 1850’s. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/5 "2003-05-06T01:25:26Z")
**samclem** , do you mean the joke or the phrase? ---
**Author:** ![mwmcmahan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@mwmcmahan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwmcmahan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/6 "2003-05-06T02:02:42Z")
What year was Hallmark founded? ---
**Author:** ![li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/7 "2003-05-06T02:50:49Z")
[Here](http://pressroom.hallmark.com/comprehensive_timline.html) ya go. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/8 "2003-05-08T05:19:36Z")
> [@](#): > > samclem, do you mean the joke or the phrase? The phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Brainz0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Brainz0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainz0)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/9 "2003-05-08T07:36:09Z")
The mission on Earth would be: Ubiquitous Befuddlement? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/10 "2003-06-12T15:36:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samclem \* > \*\*When I first joined the board, it would never have occurred to me to search the threads on the Message Board to see if someone had already asked a question or proposed an answer to one of Cecil’s columns or a Staff report. These days I do it automatically(except when I forget). > > If you search the SDMB for follow-up threads for that colunm(done by typing in \, the H being unsearchable), you get [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=594063&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=594063&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending) , 43 threads on the subject. The answers are usually there. > > PS. The answer is, it first appears in print in 1892. > > Additionally, Mark Twain, wrinting in 1910 in his autobiography, says that it was common in the 1850’s. \*\* The “H” IS searcheable. When you type in the search window “Jesus H Christ” you get hits on the H, Jesus, Christ, Jesus Christ, and Jesus H Christ. Try it. For instance, in your post the “H” is highlighted in red. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/11 "2003-06-12T19:13:15Z")
The red highlighting is done separately from the search itself. Any word can be highlighted, but the search will automatically reject anything with three letters or less (as well as some longer, very common terms: You can’t search for “thing”, for instance). ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/12 "2003-06-13T13:00:58Z")
Right, but- What I found was that posts that included JUST the H had the H highlighted. That must mean that the search function was looking for the H in Jesus H Christ. Or not? Feel free to explain in greater detail. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/13 "2003-06-13T13:08:13Z")
Maybe if it`s part of a "phrase" the search includes it, but only in the posts that would contain the rest of the "phrase". I think I`ve got it now. ---
**Author:** ![kjcole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d07c76/32.png) [@kjcole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjcole)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/14 "2003-06-14T02:23:54Z")
The best remark I’d heard regarding the “H” in Jesus H. Christ was that it stood for Haploid, considering the virgin birth. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/172798/15 "2003-06-14T07:49:23Z")
**kjcole** welcome aboard!!