Jesus clip

Jesus clip is a neologism used by industrial laypersons and military mechanics to refer to any fasteners that depend upon spring deformation to remain in place, or that is likely to be dropped, resulting in an exclamation involving Jesus.
Common examples include E-clips, snap rings, and circlips. This general type of fasteners are sized to provide an interference fit onto (or into, in the case of an internal fastener) a groove or land when in use, such that they must be elastically deformed in order to install or remove them.
The term Jesus clip is used to describe a mechanical component that:
# must be removed in order to get to other parts requiring maintenance,
# is kept in place by elastic deformation,
# tends to go flying when removed (unless special precautions are taken), and
# must be re-installed for safe operation of the machine, after repairs are complete.
Mechanics argue over the relative merits of two theories for the term. One theory is that it comes from the common exclamation when you duck to prevent losing an eye. The other theory recognizes that, once lost, "Only Jesus could find it again" .

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