# The Straight Dope makes the baby Jesus cry. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290 "2003-08-06T07:12:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/1 "2003-08-06T07:12:12Z")
From whence coomes the “makes the baby Jesus cry” statement come form? I hear it in many places now. Was it originally from that _Simpsons_ episode (the one where HOmer becomes too friendly with Ned)? ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/2 "2003-08-06T07:20:47Z")
I thought this was going to be a thread about how slow the SDMB is at peak hours. 😛 Sorry, can’t help you with your question. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/3 "2003-08-06T07:28:48Z")
_hangs head in shame_ This is why we have preview… ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/4 "2003-08-06T09:30:59Z")
WAG would say The Church Lady on SNL? ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/5 "2003-08-06T09:50:44Z")
I am fairly sure that **Robertson Davies** uses this metaphore in one of the books in _The Cornish trilogy_. Maybe in _The Rebel Angels_(1981), but more likely in _The Lyre of Orpheus_(1988). Could this have been the origin? When would the corresponding Simpsons episode have aired? ---
**Author:** ![Pergau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7c8e57/32.png) [@Pergau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pergau)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/6 "2003-08-06T12:29:34Z")
Isn’t it one of the ways that religon is thought to young children - if you do something bad, it makes baby Jesus cry. When I was young, doing something bad made you responsible for breaking God’s love. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/7 "2003-08-06T13:21:40Z")
Does this precede “every time you X, God kills a kitten?” ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/8 "2003-08-06T13:36:14Z")
Cool. This thread is almost 6 hours old and no definitive answers. I guess I’m not as far out of the loop as I thought I was! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/9 "2003-08-06T14:19:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Popup \* > \*\*I am fairly sure that **Robertson Davies** uses this metaphore in one of the books in _The Cornish trilogy_. Maybe in _The Rebel Angels_(1981), but more likely in _The Lyre of Orpheus_(1988). > > Could this have been the origin? \*\* Not unless 1981 happened before 1970. I heard it in use that long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/10 "2003-08-06T14:47:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*Not unless 1981 happened before 1970. I heard it in use that long ago. \*\* Ahh, a firm date! In what **c** ontext d **i** d you hear i **t**? Any sourc **e** s? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/11 "2003-08-06T15:12:42Z")
I heard it from my mother. She wasn’t prone to citing sources in ordinary conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Hobie\_the\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e99b99/32.png) [@Hobie\_the\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hobie_the_One)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/12 "2003-08-06T15:32:51Z")
No cite, and a WAG here. Could be a reference to the line from “Away in the manger:” “The little lord Jesus no crying he makes.” Might be a starting point for searching. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/13 "2003-08-06T15:38:52Z")
This thread makes the baby Jesus cry. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/14 "2003-08-06T15:39:59Z")
The nuns in my wife’s convent school used this phrase in earnest in the 1970s. They also told her if she wanted to sit on a boy’s lap, she needed to put a telephone directory on his lap first, or she’d get pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/15 "2003-08-06T18:05:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*The nuns in my wife’s convent school used this phrase in earnest in the 1970s. > > They also told her if she wanted to sit on a boy’s lap, she needed to put a telephone directory on his lap first, or she’d get pregnant. \*\* Yee Gods! These boys were obviously giants amoung men! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/16 "2003-08-06T18:16:37Z")
It’s the result of a typo. Prior to 1925, the rhyme was, \*\*Every time you tell a lie, It makes the Baby Jesus gry!\*\* I got my cat to click “submit.” I’m already a block away. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/17 "2003-08-06T18:56:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*The nuns in my wife’s convent school used this phrase in earnest in the 1970s. > > They also told her if she wanted to sit on a boy’s lap, she needed to put a telephone directory on his lap first, or she’d get pregnant. \*\* God, they were still telling us the same thing in the early 90s. They didn’t mention pregnancy, but still advised bringing a magazine in our handbags to parties, in case there were not enough chairs and we had to sit in a boys lap. Seems the interceeding 20 years had made them a little more hip to teenage interactions. They also advised us to bring cling-film to parties (in our handbag, with the magazine/phonebook) to put over our drink, so noone would “slip something into it”. Tragically enough, they meant like alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-makes-the-baby-jesus-cry/193290/18 "2003-08-06T19:50:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*The nuns in my wife’s convent school used this phrase in earnest in the 1970s. > > They also told her if she wanted to sit on a boy’s lap, she needed to put a telephone directory on his lap first, or she’d get pregnant. \*\* Hmm, did they even _have_ vibrating ringers back then?