# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=143 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 144 --- ## [Forbidden fruit stand](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-fruit-stand/381655)
**Author:** [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [November 29, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-fruit-stand/381655 "2006-11-29T20:44:51Z")
In today’s column on forbidden fruit, Unca Cece sez: So is that what we’re fighting? Happiness? --- ## [The size of Cecil's... "column"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-size-of-cecils-column/379872)
**Author:** [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 29, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-size-of-cecils-column/379872 "2006-11-29T19:31:37Z")
So I guess it’s true what they say about guys: the length of our “columns” increases with age. (That gives me some hope… :wink: ) No, but seriously: has the length of the Straight Dope increased with time? --- ## [re: Why is there an I Street and a K Street but no J Street in Washington, D.C.?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-is-there-an-i-street-and-a-k-street-but-no-j-street-in-washington-d-c/381467)
**Author:** [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [November 28, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-is-there-an-i-street-and-a-k-street-but-no-j-street-in-washington-d-c/381467 "2006-11-28T18:51:18Z")
( http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_262b.html ) The reason that J was left out is clearly answered. The reason U is left is not. My guess is simply that D.C. (and Detroit) planner Pierre L’Enfant was long gone b… --- ## [Great Vowel Shift](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-vowel-shift/380271)
**Author:** [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [November 27, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-vowel-shift/380271 "2006-11-27T19:28:07Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_258.html How do we know how vowels were pronounced prior to the 1350’s? Cecil says that, for example, long i sounded like our modern long e as in he. How do we know that, given … --- ## [Please Sign Your Credit Card](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-sign-your-credit-card/381899)
**Author:** [@kiaora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiaora)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 27, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-sign-your-credit-card/381899 "2006-11-27T14:50:03Z")
If I sign your credit card with your name using my signature then I can use your credit card and sign your name with my signature(no one will ask for my ID because my signature matches the signature on the card). So. . … --- ## [Figs are symbols of the female sex](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figs-are-symbols-of-the-female-sex/381666)
**Author:** [@mpollak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mpollak)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 27, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figs-are-symbols-of-the-female-sex/381666 "2006-11-27T06:39:50Z")
Cecil’s column on apples and figs was great. I have only one addition. Figs are not only a phallic symbol, they are just as much, or even more, a vulvic symbol. It’s not only that they’re a flower. It’s not only tha… --- ## [Rainbowman Rollen Stewart](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689)
**Author:** [@johnny\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnny_M)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 27, 2006, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689 "2006-11-27T03:55:19Z")
I have been in contact with Rollen Stewart. Its ironic that he received 3 lifetime sentences without ever hurting anyone physically. He has served 13 years in prision and to me it seems that he is at the end of his rop… --- ## [This is going WAY back (subliminal Disney)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-way-back-subliminal-disney/381400)
**Author:** [@laurarain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laurarain)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [November 26, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-going-way-back-subliminal-disney/381400 "2006-11-26T22:48:52Z")
This is going back to 2000 and you probably have discussed this to death but I just found this website and article so please bear with me. It was about subliminal Disney stuff. In point 5, the lion king, the SEX does no… --- ## [Another thing about the column,"Why no J..."](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-thing-about-the-column-why-no-j/381622)
**Author:** [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-thing-about-the-column-why-no-j/381622 "2006-11-24T22:52:59Z")
Linky Okay, Cecil explains at the time of planning DC the two letters were interchangeable. That’s a good explanation for a city planned in 1791. But the question also noted that the same missing letter is present in … --- ## [Sad, glad, mad, +4th?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-glad-mad-4th/381553)
**Author:** [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 23, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-glad-mad-4th/381553 "2006-11-23T18:10:33Z")
Cecil’s column on the subject I think poetic license is required. It was tempting to use “bad” in a Protestant-work-ethic sense, but if you just leave off the quest for perfect rhyme, you can use: phlegmatic flat sa… --- ## [I only count eleven "sides"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-count-eleven-sides/378736)
**Author:** [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-count-eleven-sides/378736 "2006-11-21T16:07:32Z")
Cecil’s column This Wikipedia article shows a picture of the Susan B. Anthony dollar, and while the exterior is round, the interior of the rim is only 11 sided. Unless a previous version of the coin was 13 sided, it ap… --- ## [About Cecil's Column on Odd Eye Colors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecils-column-on-odd-eye-colors/380913)
**Author:** [@C-TATUM89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C-TATUM89)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cecils-column-on-odd-eye-colors/380913 "2006-11-21T02:27:14Z")
I have sectoral heterochromia (which is to say that one quarter of my right eye is brown while the rest of it is gray, like my left.). I was trolling the interweb today and found Cecil’s article about different eye colo… --- ## [Pound (lb) vs Pound (pd)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pound-lb-vs-pound-pd/379882)
**Author:** [@AlaninVancouver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlaninVancouver)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [November 20, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pound-lb-vs-pound-pd/379882 "2006-11-20T22:29:59Z")
Pound (lb) refers to mass. In outer space there is no “weight”. Pound (pd) is weight. So a pound of butter has no weight in outer space (0 lb) but weighs 1 pd on Earth. --- ## [Conveyor belt?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveyor-belt/381023)
**Author:** [@400yearsLATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/400yearsLATER)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 20, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveyor-belt/381023 "2006-11-20T21:46:36Z")
Your answer regarding the plane on a conveyor belt is completely ridiculous. Suppose you were right. Don’t you think the engineers who designed airports would have noticed it by now? There would be no NEED for really lon… --- ## [The Goops](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goops/381063)
**Author:** [@kitbaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitbaby)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 20, 2006, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goops/381063 "2006-11-20T07:46:36Z")
:smack: You never know where your answers will come from! My mother (b.1899) used to quote this to me when I was a child. A looong time ago. And now I have a reference to this familiar work. Forget Dr. Seuss! This is the… --- ## [Billy Joel is a registered TradeMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-joel-is-a-registered-trademark/380743)
**Author:** [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [November 17, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-joel-is-a-registered-trademark/380743 "2006-11-17T19:48:18Z")
As I understand it, names and titles cannot be copyrighted, which is why BJ is saying that his name is a ™. I undedrstand that too. A down and out pian player wants to make a back, records an album of crappy covers under… --- ## [Waves around the island](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waves-around-the-island/380375)
**Author:** [@Smudge777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smudge777)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 16, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waves-around-the-island/380375 "2006-11-16T14:01:23Z")
Cecil answered a question about waves cashing upon the beaches on all sides of an island. To explain why it happened, he used a strange analogy about 2 roller-skaters holding a beach towel. As they skate either side of… --- ## [Misinformation in "What's the difference between white eggs and brown eggs?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinformation-in-whats-the-difference-between-white-eggs-and-brown-eggs/380121)
**Author:** [@indgoviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indgoviolet)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 14, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misinformation-in-whats-the-difference-between-white-eggs-and-brown-eggs/380121 "2006-11-14T14:39:45Z")
In the above article it is stated that brown eggs come from Red-feathered red-earlobed fowl. It is true about the ear lobes, but not the feather color. Black Jersey Giants (all black fowl) lay brown eggs, as do the whi… --- ## [Flight and the Conveyor Belt](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-and-the-conveyor-belt/342759)
**Author:** [@strafe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/strafe)\ **Replies:** 536\ **Last updated:** [November 14, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flight-and-the-conveyor-belt/342759 "2006-11-14T01:01:51Z")
Cecil, always enjoy your column, however you’ve got this absolutely wrong So, if I tie a seaplane to a mooring in a rapidly running river I had better be careful because the aircraft might fly away? How far would it go?… --- ## [Talking to plants..](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-plants/379330)
**Author:** [@Caltonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caltonian)\ **Replies:** 68\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-plants/379330 "2006-11-13T23:28:17Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_108.html The question was whether the old adage that talking to plants helps them grow, is true or not. Something not considered by Cecil in his answer, and which I have long tho… --- ## [Creationism column: which countries were polled? \[edited title\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-column-which-countries-were-polled-edited-title/379984)
**Author:** [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-column-which-countries-were-polled-edited-title/379984 "2006-11-13T16:18:31Z")
No comments yet on today’s column? (Nearly half the U.S. population believes the earth is less than 10,000 years old? Say it ain’t so!) My only question would relate to something mentioned towards the end, about how th… --- ## [Comment on Staff Report Jewish and Islamic Dietary Laws](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-staff-report-jewish-and-islamic-dietary-laws/379955)
**Author:** [@Menippus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menippus)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2006, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-staff-report-jewish-and-islamic-dietary-laws/379955 "2006-11-13T08:58:23Z")
Two small supplements to the (as ever) useful report: (i) The section on Kosher requirements on alcohol is misleading, in the sense that (as I discovered when at some trouble I lugged a bottle of champagne I had been gi… --- ## [Old post. - eyes of different colors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-post-eyes-of-different-colors/380001)
**Author:** [@NanoDrive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoDrive)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 11, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-post-eyes-of-different-colors/380001 "2006-11-11T18:08:27Z")
Is it possible to have eyes of two different colors? Can your eyes change color? 05-Dec-1997: A Straight Dope Classic from Cecil’s storehouse of human knowledge http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a971205.html This o… --- ## [Comment on Staff Report Jewish and Islamic Dietary Laws](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-staff-report-jewish-and-islamic-dietary-laws/379954)
**Author:** [@Menippus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menippus)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 11, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-staff-report-jewish-and-islamic-dietary-laws/379954 "2006-11-11T15:05:14Z")
Two small supplements to the (as ever) useful report: (i) The section on Kosher requirements on alcohol is misleading, in the sense that (as I discovered when at some trouble I lugged a bottle of champaign I had been gi… --- ## [Che Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/che-guevara/377706)
**Author:** [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/che-guevara/377706 "2006-11-10T14:02:11Z")
Great report Bricker! http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcheguevara.htm --- ## [Battery Memory Illustration](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battery-memory-illustration/379216)
**Author:** [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battery-memory-illustration/379216 "2006-11-09T23:05:53Z")
So, looking at the illustration for Cecil’s column today, I have to say that I’m amused that the lady in the picture is seemingly trying to find batteries for her… flashlight. I’m going with flashlight here. --- ## [Another Great Job!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-great-job/379454)
**Author:** [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-great-job/379454 "2006-11-07T21:19:51Z")
And I cannot wait for: Part 2 The inevitable load of comments attempting to assert that the US Copyright Act doesn’t say what it obviously does. Hi, Opal! --- ## [Boats vs. Ships](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boats-vs-ships/379211)
**Author:** [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [November 5, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boats-vs-ships/379211 "2006-11-05T22:06:31Z")
On the subject of exceptions to the rule, there have been ships big enough to carry other ships aboard them. A notable recent example was when the USS Cole was damaged in a suicide attack in Yemen in 1999, and was broug… --- ## [Movie Zombies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199)
**Author:** [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [November 2, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199 "2006-11-02T03:30:24Z")
Re: What happens if a werewolf bites a vampire? What’s the minimum daily requirement of blood for a vampire? Can you get zombified by having sex with a zombie? I know it seems picayune, considering how informative and t… --- ## [Russian "Cosmopolite" column -- was it in the SD books?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-cosmopolite-column-was-it-in-the-sd-books/377913)
**Author:** [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-cosmopolite-column-was-it-in-the-sd-books/377913 "2006-10-31T18:22:02Z")
This column, about what it meant to be branded a “cosmopolite” or “cosmopolitan” in the Soviet Union, says it is from March 3, 1988. But I’ve read all five Straight Dope books many a time, and I’ve been hanging out here… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=142) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=144)