# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=177 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 178 --- ## [Worms drowning in the ground](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worms-drowning-in-the-ground/38)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 16, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worms-drowning-in-the-ground/38 "2005-01-16T17:44:32Z")
Digging in the archives 10-14-94 i read a submission from a reader, and then quoted by Cecil in responce to his questionable claims. It was from a “wormologist” who explains that worms are incapable of drowning as in tha… --- ## [Britains restrictive gun laws](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britains-restrictive-gun-laws/283819)
**Author:** [@stephenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stephenray)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [January 15, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britains-restrictive-gun-laws/283819 "2005-01-15T03:44:03Z")
A little more detail might be useful about Tony Martin. First, he had no right to own a shotgun. As a farmer, he had been in possession of a shotgun licence but it had been withdrawn after he developed a habit of threat… --- ## [A SLIGHT Nitpick On 'Did Dracula Really Exist'...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-slight-nitpick-on-did-dracula-really-exist/284683)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-slight-nitpick-on-did-dracula-really-exist/284683 "2005-01-14T21:37:41Z")
I have a very slight nitpick about the webpage to Cecil Adams’ classic “Did Dracula Really Exist”. This has nothing to do with the column itself. It is the cartoon chosen for it (hence I put it in ATMB). The cartoon the… --- ## [Sympathy for Ethel Rosenberg](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sympathy-for-ethel-rosenberg/280506)
**Author:** [@J.J.Mario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J.J.Mario)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sympathy-for-ethel-rosenberg/280506 "2005-01-14T18:17:23Z")
I like this website. It’s informative. But come on. Ethel Rosenberg was a spy? Yes, it’s been established well over that Julius Rosenberg was a spy. But both Ruth and David Greenglass have recanted the parts of their te… --- ## [Peace symbol](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peace-symbol/279619)
**Author:** [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peace-symbol/279619 "2005-01-14T17:38:28Z")
In today’s thread , Cecil mentionned : I can offer confirmation of this. To be, precise, it was the symbol of the 3rd Panzer Division from 1941-45 and the resemblance is more than striking. --- ## [Whiskey vs Bourbon](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whiskey-vs-bourbon/974)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2005, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whiskey-vs-bourbon/974 "2005-01-14T10:20:38Z")
I would like to credit a comprehensive site about bourbon: www.straightbourbon.com as a source of much of my information for this mailbag answer. Jill Link to Staff Report: What’s the difference between bourbon and wh… --- ## [Corinthians? What's the joke?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corinthians-whats-the-joke/271695)
**Author:** [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corinthians-whats-the-joke/271695 "2005-01-14T05:31:02Z")
In this column, Cecil’s first response alludes to the fact that the question is supposed to be a joke. Can someone explain the joke to me? Assume little to no biblical knowledge. --- ## [the difference between fruits and vegetables?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-fruits-and-vegetables/284633)
**Author:** [@pember](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pember)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-difference-between-fruits-and-vegetables/284633 "2005-01-14T01:19:23Z")
My 3rd grade daughter came home from school the other day and wanted to know the difference between vegetables and fruits. I gave some garbled answer and decided to turn to the archives for wisdom. In http://www.straight… --- ## [bathtub water flowing anti-clockwise in Australia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-water-flowing-anti-clockwise-in-australia/281653)
**Author:** [@dipperdocus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dipperdocus)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bathtub-water-flowing-anti-clockwise-in-australia/281653 "2005-01-13T22:22:34Z")
I gotta go back and check this again now that Cecil has stated water flows the same way no matter which country we’re in. I read somewhere (way before I heard of Cecil) that water in the sink, bathtub etc flows anti-cloc… --- ## [Male lactation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-lactation/284230)
**Author:** [@bumsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bumsky)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 12, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-lactation/284230 "2005-01-12T04:14:55Z")
Actually, Cecil, it is QUITE possible for a man, ANY man, to not only lactate, but produce a FULL milk supply for an infant. It has been done. I know this doesn’t do anything for your sense of masculinity, but if you w… --- ## [What's the origin of pig latin?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-pig-latin/283868)
**Author:** [@arthurfields](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arthurfields)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 12, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-pig-latin/283868 "2005-01-12T04:03:28Z")
undefined The Staff answer to the question “What’s the origin of pig Latin?” gave origins of terms somewhat related to pig latin, and that was about all. The only direct answer given was a very open-ended " is almost c… --- ## [Question for C K Dexter Haven or scotandersn](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-c-k-dexter-haven-or-scotandersn/284229)
**Author:** [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-c-k-dexter-haven-or-scotandersn/284229 "2005-01-11T19:02:25Z")
When first checking the responses to my query about “Fickle continents”, I saw a number of intelligent answers. But they disappeared ! Where have they gone ? --- ## [Pectin and fruit skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pectin-and-fruit-skin/284077)
**Author:** [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pectin-and-fruit-skin/284077 "2005-01-11T18:23:57Z")
I noticed in the May 1987 Straight Dope Classic entitled “It is true all the vitamins in potatoes, apples, etc., are in the skin?”, I noticed that Cecil notes “There are several types of dietary fiber. The one abundant i… --- ## [Lettuce as opium substitute--1831](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lettuce-as-opium-substitute-1831/283627)
**Author:** [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lettuce-as-opium-substitute-1831/283627 "2005-01-11T03:23:25Z")
Cecil Adams’s column on lettuce as a drug can be found at http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050107.html I have a leatherbound copy of Gunn’s Domestic Medicine, second edition, from 1831. In the section on Opium, Dr. … --- ## [The Terms Yank and Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terms-yank-and-yankee/263389)
**Author:** [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [January 10, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terms-yank-and-yankee/263389 "2005-01-10T22:26:26Z")
In American, why do people in the South sometimes refer to people in the North as Yankees, yet, Europeans refer to all Americans as Yanks (short for Yankee obviously)? --- ## [More about "Helvetii"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-about-helvetii/227978)
**Author:** [@suomalainen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suomalainen)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2005, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-about-helvetii/227978 "2005-01-09T11:09:14Z")
Interesting little piece about the origins of the CH for Suisse. Now what I’m wondering is how that ties in with the Finnish word for “Hell”, which is “helvetti” (with 2 't’s). Is this just another example of the Finns m… --- ## [Beer tastes different?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-tastes-different/283675)
**Author:** [@whoa\_there](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whoa_there)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-tastes-different/283675 "2005-01-08T23:27:12Z")
Original: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_050.html “Is the Molson’s (Canadian) beer sold in the U.S. watered down?” 07Nov86 Wow, I sure dragged up an old one. Anyway, my comments: Cecil answered this query f… --- ## [Tornados and mobile homes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornados-and-mobile-homes/283038)
**Author:** [@sjbdtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjbdtz)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tornados-and-mobile-homes/283038 "2005-01-08T02:55:41Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_096b.html The chicken, or the egg. Which came first? I’m surprised that nobody has posited that the reason mobile homes appear to be more frequently targetted by tornados is sim… --- ## [Lost Dauphin found](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-dauphin-found/277556)
**Author:** [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-dauphin-found/277556 "2005-01-07T23:57:41Z")
Cecil’s column on the lost Dauphin should have been updated. A heart long said to have belonged to Louis-Charles – stolen by the doctor who performed the 1795 autopsy – was identified as sharing DNA with Marie Antoinette… --- ## [Molasses in January](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molasses-in-january/282370)
**Author:** [@chunkybrewster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chunkybrewster)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molasses-in-january/282370 "2005-01-07T19:40:56Z")
In your column on the Great Molasses Flood of 1919, you say that the molasses was to be converted into “grain alcohol”. This is a pretty neat trick, as ordinarily, grain alcohol is made from (duh) grain. How do they do i… --- ## [Pronunciation of Arkansas in Kansas](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-arkansas-in-kansas/280623)
**Author:** [@apberzerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apberzerk)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [January 6, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-arkansas-in-kansas/280623 "2005-01-06T04:50:46Z")
This is in response to “Why is Arkansas pronounced Ar-kan- SAW?”, located here: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/markansa.html To correct what was stated in the above article, in Kansas we pronounce the state of Arka… --- ## [So are there any snakes in Ireland now?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-there-any-snakes-in-ireland-now/283065)
**Author:** [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [January 6, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-there-any-snakes-in-ireland-now/283065 "2005-01-06T00:41:22Z")
In reference to http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mirishsnakes.html Is The Emerald Isle still snake-free? I would think in this global age it would be nigh to impossible to keep stowaways, pets and souvenirs out of t… --- ## [The name "Mountbatten-Windsor"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-mountbatten-windsor/280147)
**Author:** [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [January 4, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-mountbatten-windsor/280147 "2005-01-04T21:11:16Z")
The column doesn’t yet have it quite right. The name “Mountbatten-Windsor” was declared to apply only to descendants (in the male line) of Elizabeth II who are distant enough that they no longer qualify to be called “His… --- ## [One Hand Clapping](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hand-clapping/282402)
**Author:** [@KallieOkami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KallieOkami)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [January 4, 2005, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hand-clapping/282402 "2005-01-04T09:34:39Z")
Yes, i understand these are kind of old collums…i’m sorry… the sound of one hand clapping, is the same as two clapping, basically. my brother can clap with one hand… you just sort of flip your hand in the air while slap… --- ## [Great wall from space](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-space/282228)
**Author:** [@Raiden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raiden)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [January 3, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wall-from-space/282228 "2005-01-03T06:20:42Z")
“You can see the Great Wall,” confirms astronaut Ed Lu, who was the science officer of Expedition Seven on the International Space Station. The station circles Earth higher than Yang Liwei’s orbit. Link to Cecil’s Colu… --- ## [Why is North always up on a map?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108)
**Author:** [@keeper0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeper0)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [January 2, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-north-always-up-on-a-map/282108 "2005-01-02T05:06:33Z")
In Cecil’s response to this question he seemed to gloss over what I think was the main reason. First, the mapmaking tradition we are talking about started in the northern hemisphere. The reason the world puts north o… --- ## [Force fields](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-fields/281976)
**Author:** [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 31, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/force-fields/281976 "2004-12-31T21:34:08Z")
In the following 2-and-a-half-year-old Staff Report: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mforcefield.html , SDStaff Karen wrote: According to this website, the range of the Strong Nuclear Force is 1.5 x 10\[sup\]-15\[/s… --- ## [Molasses](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molasses/282417)
**Author:** [@Allen\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allen_L)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [December 31, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/molasses/282417 "2004-12-31T15:14:41Z")
I also read that the molasses was heated in the tank so that it would flow easily. The report rebutted the old statement “as slow as molasses” Well that day the molasses flowed faster than a horse could run at a full gal… --- ## [why are my knuckles different?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-my-knuckles-different/276729)
**Author:** [@Ze\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ze_Tim)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [December 31, 2004, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-my-knuckles-different/276729 "2004-12-31T09:16:30Z")
i was rummaging through some of the straight dope classics, and came across http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_305b.html this, and i was entertained and undoubtably informed by it I am indeed a fan of cracking knuc… --- ## [Special Relativity](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-relativity/281666)
**Author:** [@kangaroo\_in\_black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kangaroo_in_black)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-relativity/281666 "2004-12-29T22:26:13Z")
Ok, this is from Was Einstein a plagarist. If I remember correctly, E = mc² was not an element of the theory of special relativity. After some searching via google, it appears that this equation was derived based on s… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=176) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=178)