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I have often heard Jews refer to Jesus as "Yoshke". Is the origin of that appellation based on halachic issues regarding mentioning names of foreign deities, or some other Jewish law or custom? When was its first recorded use?

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I wonder if it's related to Acher, who wasn't considered a deity by anyone but who tradition doesn't want to name anyway. – Monica Cellio♦ Feb 20 at 15:21
Acher got his name from a story which involved him. – sam Mar 10 at 18:54
Actually, @sam, it's probably more likely that the story was invented to explain the name. There are dozens of possible explanations as to why somebody would refer (in the third person) to another person so dismissively, but the odds that it all goes back to what a single woman said to him when the two were in a field is quite unlikely. – Shimon bM Mar 13 at 2:27
Its a Yerushalmi in Chagigah,so not sure what you are saying. – sam Mar 13 at 2:48
@ShimonbM see last comment not sure you saw it. – sam Mar 13 at 17:52
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Yoshke is simply a Yiddish diminutive nickname for Yehoshua (Joshua, for which a parallel English nickname would be Josh). Thus, it was simply a way for European Jews to make reference to Jesus in a manner that (a) conveyed the idea that Jesus was not viewed as important and (b) not likely to be picked up on by nearby Gentiles.

I doubt there is any record of the earliest use of the name, as it was, and still is, used almost exclusively in speech.

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You mean like shmais.com/go/img/largepics/image2524.jpg – Shmuel Brin Mar 13 at 0:37
@ShmuelBrin Yes, though that might actually be for Yoseph. – LazerA Mar 13 at 1:40
I think it is.. – Shmuel Brin Mar 13 at 2:45
According to my reference on Ashkenazic names, Yoshke comes from Yosef, not Yehoshua, but it's often wrong. – Charles Koppelman Mar 13 at 3:37
@CharlesKoppelman I've encountered that usage as well. – LazerA Mar 13 at 4:23

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