B"H
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I received a communication with that at the top. I had never seen it before and had no idea what it meant. So I looked it up, and this is what I found on Wiktionary:
Phrase
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- (Judaism) b'ezrat hashem (Transliterated form of ב״ה, written at the top of documents).
“With the Help of God.” A common phrase used by Jews and non-Jews when hoping for good fortune and God’s support for a better tomorrow.
As the name of a constituent college of the City University of New York system and the financier-statesman whom it honors, "baruch" is fairly well known in English, though not many non-Jews would realize that it means "blessed". "B'ezrat" is not so well known in English; it means "help".
Hashem (Hebrew: הַשֵּׁם haššēm, literally "the name"; often abbreviated to ה׳ [h′]) is a title used in Judaism to refer to God. (Wikipedia)
With conflict in the Middle East intensifying, I can understand why people might be prompted to use this expression, B"H, now.
Having determined that B"H means "with the help of God", I immediately thought of Arabic "Inshallah" (and many variant forms), which means "if God wills" or "God willing". I know many non-Arabs and non-Muslims who use this expression, some of them aware of what it means.
"Deo volente" was also in my mind.
Selected readings
- "Under God an Idiom?" (6/16/04)
- "Out with Under God" (6/16/04)
- "'Under God' as 'Inshallah'" (6/20/04)
- "'(Next) Under God,' Phrasal Idiom" (6/20/04)
There are half a dozen other Language Log posts on "under god", for fairly obvious reasons.
Philip Tt said,
October 2, 2024 @ 2:30 pm
Whenever expressing a hope or aspiration for the future in writing, I append (D.v./ insha'Allah).
Rory said,
October 2, 2024 @ 3:42 pm
I know many people who put B"H or BS"D (same deal but in Aramaic) on top of emails, but none of them have just started and it's not political based. It's entirely religious-based.
Roscoe said,
October 2, 2024 @ 4:41 pm
On Saturday Night Live, Rep. George Santos (as portrayed by Bowen Yang) bragged that he "graduated on a volleyball scholarship from Baruch Atah Adonai University." ("Four years of mishegas!")
DaveK said,
October 2, 2024 @ 4:49 pm
And then there’s the jocular American version “Lord willing and the crick don’t rise.”