Christ

The First Commandment has obviously made the name of God taboo even in nonreligious contexts, leading to phonetic erosions such as gog and cokk recorded as far back as the fourteenth century. In the case of the name of Christ, these forms emerged far later than those for God and Jesus. The reason would seem to be that the name of Christ was in fact freely used in the medieval period, notably in the works of Chaucer and William Langland. A poignant secular lyric, “Western Wind,” dated from the early sixteenth century, deals with the separation of lovers and has this powerful invocation: Christ if my love were in my armes,
And in my bed againe.

In comparison with the other sacred names, the word field of euphemisms is also surprisingly short. Together with the dates of first recorded usage, it is as follows: Criminy (1680), Crikey (1839), Cripes (1840s), Jiminy Christmas (1897), Christmas (1898), and for crying out loud (1924). The last example is of the “diversion” type, in which the sacred name is turned into an inoffensive term that leads the rest of the phrase.

As can be seen, there have not been any additions for nearly a century. Most are traditional and used on both sides of the Atlantic. The American contributions are not notable: the “executive” style, Jesus H. Christ , dates from 1924. The reason for the brevity of the field would seem to be that, as in medieval times, the use of the name of Christ may be offensive, but it is not strictly taboo.