Where did the expression Jesus H. Christ come from? And what does H stand for? Holy? Hecking? Harold?
According to Wikipedia, “One commonly held origin is as an initial for the name ‘Harold,’ which is mentioned by [author Roger] Smith as the basis of a variant form, ‘Jesus Harold Christ.’ The ‘Harold’ may arise from a common misinterpretation (often by children) of the phrase in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name.'”
The truth is a bit more complicated, as religious scholar Dan McClellan explains below:
