Use As An Expletive
In some places in the English-speaking world, including the UK, Ireland (particularly Dublin) and Australia, the phrase "Jesus wept" is a common expletive, curse or minced oath spoken when something goes wrong or to express mild incredulity.
Possibly the earliest inadvertent usage on television was by the broadcaster, Richard Dimbleby, during the 1965 state visit of HM Queen Elizabeth II to West Berlin.
It is commonly used as an expletive in novels by author Stephen King. In his book On Writing, he explained that in grade school he was forced to memorize a verse from the Bible, so he picked "Jesus wept" due to its short length. Other authors using it as an expletive include Neil Gaiman in the Sandman series, David Lodge in Nice Work, Mike Carey in the Hellblazer series and The Devil You Know, Peter F. Hamilton in The Night's Dawn Trilogy, Mark Haddon in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Dan Simmons in Hyperion Cantos.
This usage is also evidenced in films and television programmes including Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Get Carter (1971), Razorback (1984), Hellraiser (1987), The Stand (1994), Michael Collins (1996), Dogma (1999) Notes on a Scandal (2006), Cranford (2008), and The Bank Job (2008).
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