# Sight gag involving "John 3:14" sign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575 "2018-10-27T04:15:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/1 "2018-10-27T04:15:35Z")
I have a memory of a joke in a TV show or movie where someone is at a (sporting?) event holding up a sign saying “John 3:14” (instead of the more typical “John 3:16”). > [@John 3 14](#): > > And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up I think the joke was that the event was snake-themed in some way. I thought it might have been the “Whacking Day” episode of the Simpsons, but my googling is coming up empty. Does this ring a bell with anyone? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/2 "2018-10-27T06:10:39Z")
At a lot of sporting events, John 11:35 might be more appropriate for at least one team’s supporters. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/3 "2018-10-27T06:23:47Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I have a memory of a joke in a TV show or movie where someone is at a (sporting?) event holding up a sign saying “John 3:14” (instead of the more typical “John 3:16”). > > I think the joke was that the event was snake-themed in some way. I thought it might have been the “Whacking Day” episode of the Simpsons, but my googling is coming up empty. Does this ring a bell with anyone? I am certain Cecil had a column about him. Can’t find the Search feature anymore since they revamped the main Straight Dope page. But he even names the guy, who would travel around the country to appear holding the sign. TV crews started zooming in on him. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/4 "2018-10-27T06:34:08Z")
[Rollen Stewart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollen_Stewart?wprov=sfla1) ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/5 "2018-10-27T07:21:55Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > At a lot of sporting events, John 11:35 might be more appropriate for at least one team’s supporters. Or John 10:20b, in games in which bad officiating is a common complaint. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/6 "2018-10-27T14:47:15Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I have a memory of a joke in a TV show or movie where someone is at a (sporting?) event holding up a sign saying “John 3:14” (instead of the more typical “John 3:16”). > > I think the joke was that the event was snake-themed in some way. I thought it might have been the “Whacking Day” episode of the Simpsons, but my googling is coming up empty. Does this ring a bell with anyone? If it was on _The Simpsons_, it was recycling a similar gag from the previous season. [Here he is](https://78.media.tumblr.com/7674a41316c605ae07a2b43a005ffa3b/tumblr_o11odidKER1rf1yd3o1_r1_1280.jpg) in 03x19 _Stark Raving Dad_ (the Michael Jackson episode.) _Whacking Day_ was 04x20. (And now I’m lementing just how good _The Simpsons_ was early on, and wondering if the season numbering will ever need another leading zero.) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/7 "2018-10-27T15:00:34Z")
My first guess was that it had something to do with pi. Pi is approximately 3.14. I can’t find any online reference to “John 3.14” (other than to the Bible verse) though. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/8 "2018-10-27T16:52:01Z")
Well at least it wasn’t Ezekiel 23:20. That has to be one of the most unexpected verses to find in the Bible ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/9 "2018-10-27T17:04:09Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Well at least it wasn’t Ezekiel 23:20. That has to be one of the most unexpected verses to find in the Bible How so? It’s not like it’s out of context or anything. Ezekiel is the weirdest damn book in the entire Bible, and I’m quite familiar with Revelation, thanks. That verse might be unexpected if you just open a Bible to that verse at random, but not if you’ve read Ezekiel from the beginning up to that point, and not even that much if you’ve read from the beginning of that chapter. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/10 "2018-10-27T17:22:50Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I am certain Cecil had a column about him. [original column](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/457/whats-with-those-john-3/) [1997 update](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/848/is-the-guy-who-held-up-those-john-3/) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/11 "2018-10-27T18:04:53Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > [original column](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/457/whats-with-those-john-3/) > > [1997 update](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/848/is-the-guy-who-held-up-those-john-3/) Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/12 "2018-10-27T23:20:01Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > My first guess was that it had something to do with pi. Pi is approximately 3.14. I can’t find any online reference to “John 3.14” (other than to the Bible verse) though. No, it was definitely John 3:14 and I’m pretty sure it was vaguely snake-related. I remember looking it up and thinking “Snakes? Ah, that’s clever!” ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sight-gag-involving-john-3-14-sign/823575/13 "2019-02-27T04:46:29Z")
Update: I finally stumbled across the comedy bit I was thinking of! It’s a Kids in the Hall skit involving the Gaelic sport of “shirling”, where players are chained together in a circle around a spitting cobra. (Hence the snake connection)