An attorney friend recently uttered the phrase "hosphidery fosphidat" after a particularly trying day in court. He doesn't know what it means, nor do I. I am wondering if anyone out there (with foreign language aptitude or knowledge of root words) might have some idea of the meaning of what he said?

Jumpin’ Jehosapath is a dated exclamation meaning “Wow” or something equally innocuous. Jehosaphat was a biblical king. Yr friend’s phrase sounds invented.

Cartoon

Thank-you! I wonder if it was a derivation of Jehosaphat? I’ll pass that on to him.

We had wondered, even though it did seem to be invented by my friend, if it was “known” to him from the collective unconscious (Jung’s idea).

Thanks again for the answer and the cartoon, which I forwarded on to my friend. (I wonder if he was Jewish in a previous lifetime?!) : )

Hey hey. You don’t have to be Jewish to read the Old Testament. More people
should; it’s the baseline document for the civilization we live in.

That phrase sounds Latinate to me. Did your friend get it from hanging with his law-school professors? It sounds Latinate but is spelled (by you) as if Greeky, what with all those “ph“s and “th“s. We need Christybird here.

I’m an attorney, never heard it before. It doesn’t sound Latin. Most legal terms are Latin.

Thank-you for the responses!

The spelling and capitalization of just the second word were the choices of the person who uttered the exclamation. I would bet that it is a personal derivation of “Jumping Jehosaphat! (sp.?)”.