John Hancock.

The other day my brother and I were at the store, purchasing something with a credit card. That's when the cashier asked my brother for his "John Henry." I let the blunder slip, but as time passed, I couldn't help wondering if I had failed to exhibit proper patriotic duty by teaching this guy a little basic 4th grade American history. Or if my 7th grade English teacher might be upset that I hadn't given the kind gentleman a brief tutorial on English idiomatic expressions.

Ah well . . . too late to educate that silly cashier now. But for future reference, the appropriate man and expression is "John Hancock."

Not John Henry.

And not Herbie Hancock.

In other news, I decided to do a little research on this John Henry fellow, and found this interesting bit of trivia on Wikipedia: "In Canadian culture, it is common to refer to giving one's signature as a 'John Henry' instead of a 'John Hancock', who was a revolutionary figure or even a traitor, opposed to the Royalty of England."

So maybe the cashier was Canadian. Hmmm.