I've more often than not heard them called "e" clips, but your explanation is more fun.
In both instances. Although I heard them referred to as "Oh Jesus" clips because when you drop one, oh Jesus are they hard to find!
When I lose one they usually go flying somewhere. You also know your screwed when you hear it ting off several things on the other end of the shop.
My secret is to hold a small magnet next to the clip, favoring the direction that they'll come off. Then, as the clip comes loose, the magnet will grab it and keep it from flying away.
Ok, time for a personal vignette...and all of the above comments is what prompted me...
I used to have a shop...I did mostly transmissions...
On the kickdown linkage on most earlier Fords (before they went to a cable with a socket) the linkage was held to the throttle lever with an e-clip...(you guys refer to them as 'jesus clips', 'Oh Jesus clips' etc....
I used so many of those little effers (typically they were missing) that I bought them in small manila envelopes...
I had a truck that I needed to adjust the kickdown on one day after a test drive and it was parked out in front of the office...nice day, office door open...
I went to my stash of clips and grabbed one and stuck it between my teeth to hang on to it until I was able to grab a couple of tools and a half of a 55-gallon barrel to use as a platform to stand on and lean over the engine...
By the time I was set up to put on the clip...
it was gone.....
!!!???!!!
I grabbed a glass of water and tried to flush out my mouth and spit it out into a transmission pan...( you wind up using transmission pans for
everything...they just seem to be so...handy....)
Nothing....nowhere...the clip disappeared....
I looked everywhere...
Where did it go...??
I did not think to partially swallow a magnet....might have worked...
I had this sinking feeling...that something just was not ever going to be the same again.....
I pulled myself together...partially....went and got another clip and put it on a magnet and went and fixed the truck...and then pondered what might happen...
I had heard stories about what doctors had found in appendixes that they had removed...toothbrush bristles, coins, etc.
I imagine what would be the reaction if a 'jesus clip' was found in there...