Received an e-mail titled 'Is Hell Endothermic or Exothermic?' The story purports to be the true tale of this extra credit question on a chemistry test. The rest of the story is a student's answer to the question and ends with the professor giving the student a high grade. I had received a similar e-mail years ago but didn't remember it ending the same way. I did a little research on the etymology of this joke. The original story was running around the Internet at least by 1997 but that version ended w/ the student postulating both possibilities including the phrases 'When Hell freezes over' and 'All Hell breaks loose'. By 2000 it's the same joke but has added a reference to another student, Teresa (note: I found versions with various male/female names). Teresa's refusal leads to a summation that Hell must be exothermic. The story changed again by 2017 not only including Teresa's refusal but adding a corollary proving the existence of Heaven. Interesting how the joke changed along w/ society's mores.
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