Jumpin’ Jehosaphat, the kid has hit the jackpot! : Dodsworth, the lazy cat, Kiddin’ the Kitten, Merrie Melodies. And that, right there, ladies, gentlemen, kittens and puppies, is when I first heard that phrase, watching cartoons during the Sunday slot. Long ago, when Doordarshan was the be-all and end-all of TV existence, we kids had one precious hour to ourselves, unmarred by news, agriculture shows or regional movies. And come hell, high-water or raging adults, I stuck to it with the tenacity of Goundamani and his kicks. Or Superstar and his punch dialogues. You get the drift. Mostly, it was an almost religious devotion to Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, but there would be the odd and delightful re-run of Tom and Jerry and Bugs the Bunny; I lived for those moments. Kiddin’ the Kitten, the tale of how a lazy-bones cat, Dodsworth, “employs” a smart kitty to catch rats for him, is a perennial favourite. Mostly, I pretended to understand what was being said — but thankfully, us cartoon addicts didn’t really have to bother too much; the artists made it so easy with their weird and wonderful expressions, bizarre actions and laugh-out-loud segments. But there were also Jumpin’ Jehosaphat moments, which I didn’t get. Ever. And so I set about trying to learn who or what Jehosaphat might be, and why he had to jump all over the place, anyway. Turns out that historically, Jehosaphat was the fourth king of the Kingdom of Judah; reigned from 873 – 849 BC, and his greatest achievement is said to be against the Moabites alliance, who marched against him. At this point, Jehosaphat is supposed to have prayed to god: “O our god, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” And deliverance came in due course. Also, as per Prophet Joel, on the subject of Judgment of the Dead, Jehosaphat is “one of the mighty ones, come down to shake all the heathens into submission.”There’s yet another weird and wonderful legend doing the rounds: once, the dreaded Kapoostan army descended on Jehosaphat in all its wild and wooly glory to abscond with his princess and mound of gold coins. Upon which Jehosaphat downed some powerful mushrooms from his kingdom and, er, jumped on the Kapoostanians and finished them off in one glorious, messy splat. Still doesn’t explain the phrase, though. But I, diligent researcher, keep digging. And — aha! Pay-dirt. Apparently, it was used by novelist Thomas Mayn Reid, in his 1866 novel, The Headless Horseman. And became a sort of favourite among Americans of that period, who liked the J and J rhyme. Holy Jumpin’ Jehosaphat. That’s – quite an explanation.
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