 The use of the name Earnest may have been a homosexual in @-@ joke . In 1892 , three years before Wilde wrote the play , John <unk> Nicholson had published the book of <unk> poetry Love In Earnest . The <unk> Of Boys ' Names included the verse : " Though Frank may ring like silver bell / And Cecil softer music claim / They cannot work the miracle / – ' Tis Ernest sets my heart a @-@ flame . " The word " earnest " may also have been a code @-@ word for homosexual , as in : " Is he earnest ? " , in the same way that " Is he so ? " and " Is he musical ? " were employed . 
