template / said by James and Jimmie
As we all know, X is the Y of the north/south
What does "As we all know, X is the Y of the north/south" mean on Small Town Murder?
James's demographic running gag: when the town's religion figures are read out, the dominant faith is explained by swapping the region, so "Catholics are the baptists of the north" means the Catholic majority in the north mirrors the Baptist majority in the south, and vice versa. The region slot gets stretched for comic effect to places like the wheat belt, the great lakes or the south pacific, and Jimmie sometimes joins in.
- Kind
- template
- Usually said by
- James and Jimmie
- First heard
- Episode 27, 19 July 2017
The story behind the phrase
Where did "As we all know, X is the Y of the north/south" come from?
It comes from episode 27, while James reads the religion figures for a Connecticut town. He says that in Alabama the biggest group would be Baptist, but here it is Catholic: "the Baptists of the north". Jimmie calls it clever and James jokes that it is their new marketing slogan.
It is a quick way of making sense of the numbers. The biggest faith in a town is unsurprising, because the Catholics in the north fill the place the Baptists fill in the south. The joke is mostly in how pleased James is with it.
How is "As we all know, X is the Y of the north/south" used now?
In episode 29 James runs it backwards, "the Catholics of the south" for the Baptists, and from then on it comes round whenever a leading denomination is read out, often with "as we know". It is still used in 2026, and James sometimes uses it to point out a town that breaks the pattern.
When was "As we all know, X is the Y of the north/south" first said?
It was first heard in episode 27, "Family Problems, Killer Solutions", on 19 July 2017, at about 0:09:43.
"If we're in if we're in, you know, Alabama, it's going to be 32% Baptist, here we're going to be kept Catholics, the Baptists of the North."
Reading a Connecticut town's religion, James says that if this were Alabama it would be 32 per cent Baptist but here it is Catholic: "catholics the baptists of the north", then jokes that this is their new marketing slogan and repeats it. It sounds coined on the spot, and within a fortnight he is already reversing it for the south as an established line.
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