“What if there were no hypothetical questions?”
“What if there were no hypothetical questions?” is a jocular saying that has been printed on many images. “What if there were no hypothetical questions?” was printed in the New Era (Lancaster, PA) on April 1, 1991, and in the St. Louis (MO) Post-Dispatch on August 29, 1991.
Authorship of this question is unknown. The line is often credited to American stand-up comedian George Carlin (1937-2008), but there is no evidence that he said it.
Wikipedia: Hypotheticals
Hypotheticals are possible situations, statements or questions about something imaginary rather than something real. Hypotheticals deal with the concept of “what if?”’. Grammatically, the term is a noun formed from an adjective, and the word might be pluralized because it refers to the members of a class of hypothetical things.
Newspapers.com
1 April 1991, New Era (Lancaster, PA), “For April: 30 jokes, take 1 a day” by Ken Hussar, pg. B-1, col. 1:
19. What if there were no hypothetical questions?
Newspapers.com
29 August 1991, St. Louis (MO) Post-Dispatch, “A Tour Of St. Louis With Cheap Food And Fun” by Elaine Viets, pg. 3E, col. 1:
Look for “What if there were no hypothetical questions?” in the women’s restroom. That’s mine, unless it’s been painted over.
Google Groups: rec.music.bluenote
Help identifying “Dark night is coming”
Bruce Steinberg
Jan 2, 1992, 1:09:16 AM
(...)
“What if there were no hypothetical questions?”
Google Groups: alt.fan.dan-quayle
The boycotting of taxes Re: PATCO: a di
Mike Schwartz
Nov 12, 1993, 3:13:23 AM
(...)
> “What if there were no hypothetical questions?”—John Mendoza
Google Books
Sponging:
A Guide to Living Off Those You Love
By Anthony E. Marsh, Jay Blumenfield and Robert Moritz
Los Angeles, CA: Dune Road Books
1995
Pg. 87:
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
Twitter
Will Mackey
@WillMackey
“What if there were no hypothetical questions?” ~ George Carlin
11:19 AM · May 11, 2008·Twitter Web Client
Google Books
5,000 Sidesplitting Jokes and One-Liners
Compiled by Grant Tucker
London, UK: Biteback Publishing
2013
Pg. 274:
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
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Google Books
Title What If There Were No Hypothetical Questions?: 120 Pages 6 ‘x 9’ -Dot Graph Paper Journal Manuscript - Planner - Scratchbook - Diary
Author Journal Notebook
Publisher Independently Published, 2019
ISBN 1675821267, 9781675821268
Length 120 pages
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What if there were no hypothetical questions?
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