Jiminy Christmas, it's almost Christmas !

My idle musing led me to investigate cliches associated with Christmas. Much to my amazement I only came up with one - Jiminy Christmas. A search using Xmas and Santa produced zero results. Upon reflection there is nothing trite about Christmas, thus the dearth of Christmas cliches. But what about Jiminy Christmas?

Jiminy Christmas is used to express surprise and is associated with the Walt Disney character Jiminy Cricket. As far as I can determine , both Jiminy's are expressions of surprise. I was astonished to learn they are used by the devout as a substitute for "Jesus Christ!" when exclaiming surprise. Jiminy Cricket and Jesus Christ. JC and JC. Jesus Christ, it's remarkable - sinning is avoided and the soul is saved!

Jiminy Christmas, look at the calendar! It's almost Christmas -time to wish one and all a Merry Christmas and to all a good day!

(A more thorough treatise about Jiminy Christmas can be found in the Jiminy Christmas post on  Patrick Guanciale's blog.)