# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=119 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 120 --- ## ["Acting strangely"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-strangely/456642)
**Author:** [@Virgil\_Tibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Virgil_Tibbs)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [July 26, 2008, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-strangely/456642 "2008-07-26T10:59:09Z")
For the record, "“acting strangely” is grammatical. Unless you are an illiterate American, an adverb must be used to describe a verb. Would you prefer “acting strange”? Over the past few decades, US English has taken t… --- ## [Piss Shiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-shiver/457697)
**Author:** [@Titanium\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Titanium_Man)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [July 25, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piss-shiver/457697 "2008-07-25T04:06:41Z")
Related URL: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4\_225.html First of all, I am new here, and I apologize if this theory on the “Piss Shiver” has already been given. Secondly, I’d like to say that I am not a doctor, … --- ## [Prostitution Column](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-column/456943)
**Author:** [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [July 24, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-column/456943 "2008-07-24T15:49:46Z")
Prostitution: Is the woman committing the crime by selling herself or is the man committing the crime by paying for the service? “In fact, some laws were written so narrowly that even male prostitutes were off the hook.… --- ## [ref: GEORGE REEVES death](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ref-george-reeves-death/457550)
**Author:** [@MTGY\_MONGOOSE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTGY_MONGOOSE)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [July 24, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ref-george-reeves-death/457550 "2008-07-24T12:12:27Z")
Pardon Thou Me, but I have never heard what type of fire-arm or the caliber of bullet that was involved in the death of George Reeves. Please advise. Many Thanks --- ## [Starve a cold and feed a fever](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starve-a-cold-and-feed-a-fever/457002)
**Author:** [@Yu\_Lin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yu_Lin)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [July 24, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starve-a-cold-and-feed-a-fever/457002 "2008-07-24T01:05:20Z")
FYI - Some years ago I had a friend who researched sayings like this, and what I heard from her went as follows: The modern form of the saying is “starve a cold and feed a fever”. The original version of this saying w… --- ## [tit-men](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tit-men/456926)
**Author:** [@stevep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stevep)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tit-men/456926 "2008-07-22T18:37:19Z")
\>The phrase “soar but little higher” inclines one to think that Thoreau is also making a punning allusion to a similarly named species of bird With apologies to Rufus Wainwright, this a bird pun. In England, the small b… --- ## [the full moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927)
**Author:** [@nanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nanas)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [July 21, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927 "2008-07-21T19:47:16Z")
i beg to differ on the subject of the full moon i work at a nursing home and i can tell you as a fact full moons do mess with these peoles heads especially alzheimers residents they act up all of them are climbing out of… --- ## [Queen's Birthday - marks the start of the ski season in Australia?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-birthday-marks-the-start-of-the-ski-season-in-australia/456619)
**Author:** [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [July 19, 2008, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-birthday-marks-the-start-of-the-ski-season-in-australia/456619 "2008-07-19T06:28:46Z")
Obligatory link: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mqueensbirthday.html \*\*Bricker \*\* you say: "Most of Australia observes the Queen’s Official Birthday on the second Monday in June, giving workers a three-day weeken… --- ## [United Kingdom](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-kingdom/456719)
**Author:** [@Bryson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryson)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-kingdom/456719 "2008-07-18T21:29:52Z")
Dear Cecil Julius Caesar invaded the island in 55 BCE and named it Britannia, later corrupted to Britain. Britannia extended north to Hadrian’s Wall beyond which was Caledonia, which later became Scotland. After the Ang… --- ## [decrepusculate?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decrepusculate/456827)
**Author:** [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decrepusculate/456827 "2008-07-18T03:08:44Z")
I can’t find a definition for this word in print or pixel. It shows up in cecil’s response to the article about Tit-men Context would tell me it means to explain, but I want to verify. --- ## [extra info on Whose face is on the $1,000 bill?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-info-on-whose-face-is-on-the-1-000-bill/455015)
**Author:** [@RyanSCoomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyanSCoomer)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [July 16, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-info-on-whose-face-is-on-the-1-000-bill/455015 "2008-07-16T14:09:28Z")
“Who’s Salmon P. Chase, you ask? U. S. Supreme Court Justice, 1864-73. Guess it goes to show, you can never tell who’s collectible.” Actually, there’s more to it than that. Here’s the story: Before Salmon P. Chase beca… --- ## [24 or 6 to 4](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-or-6-to-4/454955)
**Author:** [@peach1000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peach1000)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [July 15, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/24-or-6-to-4/454955 "2008-07-15T16:41:15Z")
the ilumatti has all ways controlled the music business for a long time, they love putting their symbols, on all there works. As much as I love the song… 25 or 6 is 25 +26 =51, 5+1=6 again 6 2 for 4 is 2+4 =6 666 s… --- ## [Are humans meat eaters or vegetarians by nature?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-meat-eaters-or-vegetarians-by-nature/455326)
**Author:** [@telecommunications](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/telecommunications)\ **Replies:** 123\ **Last updated:** [July 15, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-meat-eaters-or-vegetarians-by-nature/455326 "2008-07-15T13:30:52Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_087.html “Like the hard-core carnivores, we have fairly simple digestive systems well suited to the consumption of animal protein, which breaks down quickly. Contrary to what your… --- ## [Can you develop resistance to pepper spray by eating spicy food?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-resistance-to-pepper-spray-by-eating-spicy-food/456126)
**Author:** [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [July 13, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-develop-resistance-to-pepper-spray-by-eating-spicy-food/456126 "2008-07-13T01:42:03Z")
Regarding this column: Can you develop resistance to pepper spray by eating spicy food? Link: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080711.html Perhaps Irma has a vigorously defensive mucous membrane system (or poor ne… --- ## [Life after Death (SD Classic, 6 Dec 2007)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-after-death-sd-classic-6-dec-2007/429022)
**Author:** [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [July 11, 2008, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-after-death-sd-classic-6-dec-2007/429022 "2008-07-11T12:28:54Z")
Does any major religion not believe in life after death? Cecil states: “On the latter point” (“whether there is a spiritual or immaterial realm that transcends this mortal coil”) “every religion I have ever heard of arg… --- ## [Trains hitting cars](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trains-hitting-cars/453589)
**Author:** [@squidfoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfoo)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 11, 2008, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trains-hitting-cars/453589 "2008-07-11T12:17:54Z")
Article link:http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080620.html I saw this happen once when I was a kid. Gates came down (we were a few cars back in the line), slow freight train in sight, first car can’t be bothered to w… --- ## [Wrong date on Cecil's column?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-date-on-cecils-column/455508)
**Author:** [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 10, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-date-on-cecils-column/455508 "2008-07-10T15:51:18Z")
The date on the guy-in-a-lawn-chair-with-helium-balloons column (which I happened to be looking at because it was linked to in this thread) is 28-Oct-1988. Yet, according to internal evidence, the column, at least in it… --- ## ["ageusiatic" or "ageusic"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ageusiatic-or-ageusic/455844)
**Author:** [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 10, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ageusiatic-or-ageusic/455844 "2008-07-10T02:26:55Z")
column (bolding mine - to emphasize that Cecil is forming the word “ageusiatic” himself) If “anosmia” becomes “anosmic”, shouldn’t “ageusia” become “ageusic”? I admit “ageusiatic” sounds more natural to my ear, but i… --- ## [Do food tasters really do any good?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-tasters-really-do-any-good/455825)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [July 9, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-tasters-really-do-any-good/455825 "2008-07-09T15:01:00Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080704.html Even in the old days, how many poisons worked so fast that a food taster would fall ill in time to prevent the king from eating it? Are there documented cases where invol… --- ## [NASCAR and shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-and-shine/454907)
**Author:** [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [July 9, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar-and-shine/454907 "2008-07-09T03:36:27Z")
Nice report here Bricker. Hopefully we can all look forward eventually to the days of speedboat races between former cocaine smugglers, or pilot races where they have to skim over the top of ocean waves and stay off Coa… --- ## [Blinded by the Light](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinded-by-the-light/455685)
**Author:** [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [July 8, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blinded-by-the-light/455685 "2008-07-08T22:20:17Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_148.html Despite what the official lyrics say, I’ve always heard it as “Revved up like a Deuce”. There is precedent for switched lyrics. In Elton John’s Rocket Man, Bernie Taupin… --- ## [Does the President have food tasters?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-have-food-tasters/455351)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 8, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-have-food-tasters/455351 "2008-07-08T15:42:33Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080704.html Nice column; seems pretty accurate from everything I’ve ever read about presidential protection. One other detail: when Air Force personnel stock food and drink for Air F… --- ## [Cannibalism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism/455470)
**Author:** [@Darky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darky)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [July 8, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism/455470 "2008-07-08T15:37:25Z")
Hello. First of all, my English is kinda terrible so have indulgence with possible spelling mistakes and grammar, and I suck at summarize everything in a good way… but I do my best :slight\_smile: Very well, I just sig… --- ## [Gas In A Pill, Why Not! Our Chemists Can Duplicate Everything Else.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-in-a-pill-why-not-our-chemists-can-duplicate-everything-else/454708)
**Author:** [@lightstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightstorm)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [July 6, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-in-a-pill-why-not-our-chemists-can-duplicate-everything-else/454708 "2008-07-06T02:08:56Z")
A GENERIC GASOLINE !! Let"s stir the pot, shall we. In the early 1960’s I recall a newspaper article, it appeared only once and was never heard of again, as if it was erased from our collective mind consciousness. Th… --- ## [The butler did it!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butler-did-it/455176)
**Author:** [@DallasDeckard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DallasDeckard)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [July 3, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butler-did-it/455176 "2008-07-03T17:40:52Z")
Our fearless leader wrote: “In 1929 she helped two of her sons found the publishing house of Farrar and Rinehart, which printed her books from then on – to my mind the surest means yet devised to guarantee a successful … --- ## [Copyright on email](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-on-email/454964)
**Author:** [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 1, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-on-email/454964 "2008-07-01T23:31:08Z")
In a GQ started by pkbites asking a legal question about email, \*\*Gfactor \*\*quoted from a mailbag answer on How does copyright work? (Part 1) : Rather than trying to continue to hijack the (answered GQ), I’m reposting … --- ## [RE: Is living under power lines harmful to your health?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-is-living-under-power-lines-harmful-to-your-health/454820)
**Author:** [@kwalker55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kwalker55)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [July 1, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-is-living-under-power-lines-harmful-to-your-health/454820 "2008-07-01T20:59:06Z")
I don’t have any scientific evidence of any ill effects of high voltage power lines but my neighbors cattle or horses won’t go near them,also I have taken a florescent light bulb under the wires and it will illuminate.So… --- ## [Excitable Boy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excitable-boy/454572)
**Author:** [@churchkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/churchkey)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [July 1, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excitable-boy/454572 "2008-07-01T16:49:21Z")
Hello, I’ve been a reader of “The Straight Dope” for years and years, and I would appreciate any further information about a phrase Cecil used in his rebuff to a reader’s response in the column about flea circuses. Her… --- ## [IRS=Establishment of Religion??????](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-establishment-of-religion/454334)
**Author:** [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [July 1, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irs-establishment-of-religion/454334 "2008-07-01T16:25:59Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_127.html That’s one I have not heard before. Where did they come up with that one? Granted, a lot of people do take the Lord’s name in vain when discussing the IRS, but that’s … --- ## [Stalling on the Tracks](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalling-on-the-tracks/454919)
**Author:** [@ChordedZither](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChordedZither)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [July 1, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stalling-on-the-tracks/454919 "2008-07-01T16:18:47Z")
Cecil’s answer to the question “What makes a car so prone to stall in the middle of train tracks?” moved almost immediately into a discussion of why this might be a matter of perception rather than of reality. But I thin… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=118) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=120)