Jumping jehosephat

Posted by Bob on December 04, 1999

In Reply to: Jumping jehosephat posted by Kathryn on December 04, 1999

: : : : : Does anyone know where the phrase jumping jehosephat came from?

: : : : Since nobody has so far, on this forum, been able to give a satisfactory answer to your question I propose in the words of Churchill (1874 - 1965) to classify it as '.a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'.

: : : Except, of course, that Jehosephat was a king in the Bible.

: : The real riddle remains: why was he jumping and what provoked him so to do?

: I have read over the stories in the bible that discuss Jehosephat and none of them refer to him jumping. Maybe it is a riddle wrapped in a mystery
: inside an enigma. ksc

My Irish relatives would use the phrase "great Jumpin' Jaysus..." in much the same fashion. I suspect poor Jehosephat was jumping for the same reason that Orphan Annie's Leaping Lizards were leaping... it's alliterative, it's amusingly visual, and its just plain fun to say.