A series of Twitter exchanges see The Simpsons writer Josh Weinstein learn the hidden meaning behind one of the show’s most heavily-memed jokes. First airing on Fox in 1989, The Simpsons just recently concluded season 34. The show has featured countless memorable jokes over the years, including one bit in season 4 in which Homer buys a foreign car and is told to “Put it in ‘H’” as the salesman pushes the vehicle off the lot.
Now, after looking back fondly on the decades-old Simpsons joke, Weinstein has been informed on Twitter that the “H” in the “Put it in ‘H’” line is actually a reference to the Cyrillic alphabet, in which the letter would be “N” for “Neutral”.
While Weinstein still believes the line is a coincidence, an earlier part of the scene does clearly show other Cyrillic letters representing the different car gears and the salesman also speaks with a heavy Eastern European accent. Until another writer who was there during the creation of the episode chimes in, however, it will seemingly remain unclear whether the correlation was intentional or not.
This Isn’t The First Simpsons Joke Debate
It speaks volumes about The Simpsons that jokes and moments continue to be relevant and/ or debated for years after they air on TV. In the mid-2010s, one joke from season 8, which aired in 1997, got the internet all riled up, with users on social media divided over a line that Homer says regarding a shoe.
The basic setup is that the uber-friendly Hank, Homer’s new boss at Globex Corporation, asks whether Homer likes his moccasins. “Don’t like them? Then neither do I!”, Hank says enthusiastically, tossing his shoes out the door with a farewell remark. “Ever seen a guy say goodbye to a shoe?” Hank asks, to which Homer infamously replies, “Yes, once.” The Simpsons debate that followed was over whether Homer’s line was in reference to the shoe he just saw thrown or if he was referring to a different shoe entirely at some point in the past.
While Homer’s voice actor subsequently weighed in on the controversy, revealing that his “Yes, once” line was improvised and that, in his mind, he was referring to a past Homer experience (even though he admits the other possibility is funnier), the beauty is that both sides can still be right. If one meaning of the joke is funnier to a particular audience member, then it doesn’t really matter what the intention was. The latest chatter about the “Put it in ‘H'” line is just further proof that The Simpsons‘ writing has stood the test of time brilliantly.
Source: Josh Weinstein/ Twitter
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
