exclamation of surprise, 1803, colloquial form of Gemini, a disguised oath, perhaps Jesu Domine "Jesus Lord." Extended form jiminy cricket is attested from 1848, according to OED, and suggests Jesus Christ (compare also Jiminy Christmas, 1890). It was in popular use in print from c. 1901 and taken into the Pinocchio fairy tale by Disney (1940) to answer to Italian Il Grillo Parlante "the talking cricket."
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