Antedating of Jesus H. Christ

[Shapiro, Fred]

A quick search of Newspapers.com seems to show "Jesus H. Christ" occurring in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Aug. 30, 1871, and Weekly Arizona Miner, July 30, 1880.

Fred Shapiro


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From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Baker, John [JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM]
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2014 6:41 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Antedating of Jesus H. Christ

HDAS has "Jesus H. Christ" to 1892, and Fred Shapiro has antedated it to 1887 - 1888.  Here is a further antedating, to 1885.  The item below was picked up by a number of newspapers, of which the earliest I have is from the Galveston Daily News, Jan. 5, 1885, p. 9.  It cites as its source the Brazos Pilot, which I do not have.  This is via Newspaper Archive.

"The names of Jesus and Christ sound very sacred to English-speaking people, but among the Spanish both are common names--given and surnames.  At Laredo, the other day, Jesus H. Christ was registered at one of the hotels.  We remember noting a few years ago that a Mexican named Jesus Christ had been hung for horse-stealing.  Truly, there is nothing in a name."

The writer was under the impression that this was just an example of Spanish names, but that seems unlikely to me, and of course the writer himself had no direct knowledge of the matter.  Note that the item's use here and in other newspapers implies that the phrase was not yet common even in oral use.


John Baker

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