Jumpin' Jehosaphats

Posted by ESC on August 05, 2003

In Reply to: Jumpin' Jehosaphats posted by Jeff Jank on August 05, 2003

: can anyone tell me the source of this expression?

Nope.

From the archives:
Jehoshaphat is a Biblical king -- the son of Asa and fourth king of Judah (873-849 BC) but no one knows the origin of the phrase. Or, at least, it's not in any of my reference books. The phrase is just alliterative and the words sound good together. Probably the phrase started out as Jumping Jesus and someone thought that was too blasphemous and substituted Jehoshaphat. That's a "Minced oath."

  • Thanks Jeff Jank 06/August/03