# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=244 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 245 --- ## [umpty in place of dash](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umpty-in-place-of-dash/110039)
**Author:** [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2002, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umpty-in-place-of-dash/110039 "2002-05-21T14:17:58Z")
SDSTAFF Dogster did a nice job in writing What is the origin of umpteen? The humor was worthy of a Cecil. One point which might not have been clear from a cursory reading of the column was the statement It would help… --- ## [Brain flossing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-flossing/109909)
**Author:** [@DaveoRad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveoRad)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-flossing/109909 "2002-05-21T02:16:32Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_050.html "If you are genuinely desirous of probing your innards with twine, I can suggest an alternative yogic exercise called sutra neti, which involves a dampened, waxed string … --- ## [On "Bloody"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bloody/109579)
**Author:** [@Rib\_Eye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rib_Eye)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-bloody/109579 "2002-05-18T00:43:25Z")
According to Margaret Geogre who wrote the very-well researched “Autobiography of Henry VIII” the slang term “bloody” has its origins in Henry VIII’s break with the Catholic church. Prior to the the break, the oath “By o… --- ## [Origin of Umpire](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-umpire/109495)
**Author:** [@DragonTears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonTears)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-umpire/109495 "2002-05-17T22:28:57Z")
Re: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mumpteen.html For those of us atrophied by sitting in front of the computer way too much, the Oxford English Dictionary is way to heavy. So what is the origin of the word umpire? … --- ## [My Bad Croc Tears](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bad-croc-tears/107206)
**Author:** [@Gargoyle48](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gargoyle48)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bad-croc-tears/107206 "2002-05-17T21:45:09Z")
I am dismayed by Cecil’s use of the ever more popular phrase “my bad” in his recent crocodile tears revisited. You might as well use “my green” or “my large”. How much longer until we see Cecil say “I had 4gotten 2 thi… --- ## [Off-Shore Banking](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/off-shore-banking/109573)
**Author:** [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2002, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/off-shore-banking/109573 "2002-05-17T18:22:27Z")
Here’s the link to the column. (Mods–feel free to move this thread if it more properly belong in Comments on Staff Reports.;)) Very true. You can also think of your account representative as your personal facilitator.… --- ## [Celebrities in Hiding](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-hiding/83042)
**Author:** [@BobSchroeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobSchroeck)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-in-hiding/83042 "2002-05-17T16:02:41Z")
I’m blanking out on the name, and a web search hasn’t helped me any, but wasn’t there a French poet who disappeared at the height of his career and was decades later discovered, on his deathbed, to have been living under… --- ## [Taos Hum Explained! - Probably.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taos-hum-explained-probably/109525)
**Author:** [@windchsr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/windchsr)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taos-hum-explained-probably/109525 "2002-05-17T11:25:21Z")
Well, as far as I can tell there’s no proof, but there’s a whooooole lot of damning circumstantial and anecdotal evidence that the Taos Hum is… dramatic pause The LORAN navigational radio system! Salient points: Pe… --- ## [How can I get rid of Roaches for ever?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-roaches-for-ever/107900)
**Author:** [@tazqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tazqueen)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 16, 2002, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-roaches-for-ever/107900 "2002-05-16T12:24:13Z")
I have small children in my home so I must be careful about what I use. I would like to find a way to kill roaches, especially german roaches quickly and permently without costing me an arm and a leg. Any suggestions?… --- ## ["Clath to Cloth" not an analogy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clath-to-cloth-not-an-analogy/109318)
**Author:** [@Victory\_Candescence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victory_Candescence)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 16, 2002, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clath-to-cloth-not-an-analogy/109318 "2002-05-16T12:21:13Z")
This is the article I’m referring to: What is the origin of “Man of the Cloth”? Dex says: To the linguists out there: Couldn’t “clath” have become “cloth” through the same vowel-shifting process that made “stane” be… --- ## [Secret Message of Fatima](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-message-of-fatima/109225)
**Author:** [@sford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sford)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 15, 2002, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-message-of-fatima/109225 "2002-05-15T19:25:04Z")
Cat gotcher tongue? --- ## [Swallowing a Cloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swallowing-a-cloth/109207)
**Author:** [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 15, 2002, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swallowing-a-cloth/109207 "2002-05-15T16:29:23Z")
In this column – http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_050.html Just a small quibble – someone who practices yoga is called a “yogi.” --- ## [Love Spell](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-spell/107774)
**Author:** [@Motcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motcha)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 15, 2002, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-spell/107774 "2002-05-15T07:12:44Z")
Pursuant to the article about a trie dand true love potion, found at http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_046.html I feel I must ask this question: Where the hell can you buy a mortar and pestle these days? --- ## [Why boats have their wheels on the the right side](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-boats-have-their-wheels-on-the-the-right-side/108254)
**Author:** [@Planeray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Planeray)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 14, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-boats-have-their-wheels-on-the-the-right-side/108254 "2002-05-14T19:05:41Z")
In reference to this article, I think you have to blame the Vikings for this. Anyone know why the right hand side of a boats correct name is Starboard? Well, those marauding fellows designed their longboats etc with a b… --- ## [Man of the (gulp) cloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-of-the-gulp-cloth/109018)
**Author:** [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 14, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-of-the-gulp-cloth/109018 "2002-05-14T14:20:23Z")
What’s the origin of “man of the cloth”? Interesting report Dex. BTW, asides are good and often as not at least as interesting as the question itself (although sometimes the exception pro… I mean, it’s not always so). D… --- ## [census at the time of the birth of Christ and what it made me realise](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/census-at-the-time-of-the-birth-of-christ-and-what-it-made-me-realise/107065)
**Author:** [@wimperman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wimperman)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [May 14, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/census-at-the-time-of-the-birth-of-christ-and-what-it-made-me-realise/107065 "2002-05-14T12:57:34Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/maugcensus.html am I living in the past? according to all my references, right now it’s still the 3rd of May 2002. Even though I’m in South Africa. But the above report “What did t… --- ## [Did the U.S. government fund psychic research?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-u-s-government-fund-psychic-research/106565)
**Author:** [@randomgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomgirl)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [May 14, 2002, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-u-s-government-fund-psychic-research/106565 "2002-05-14T06:22:27Z")
Link to Staff Report: Did the U.S. government fund psychic research? To answer the question presented at the end of this article, there are probably a dozen reasons why psychic research provides no reasonable studies at… --- ## [Jew's-harp (reference from yoga cloth swallowing article (re)posted 5/13/02)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-harp-reference-from-yoga-cloth-swallowing-article-re-posted-5-13-02/108867)
**Author:** [@Lazarus\_Long](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazarus_Long)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 14, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-harp-reference-from-yoga-cloth-swallowing-article-re-posted-5-13-02/108867 "2002-05-14T00:18:58Z")
I read with surprise Cecil’s refence to the “Jew’s-harp” as I’d always assumed that it was a derogatory term. This seemed a little out of character so I did a little (emphasis on “little”) research and found some source… --- ## [nuking roaches](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuking-roaches/108523)
**Author:** [@balibanu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/balibanu)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 13, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuking-roaches/108523 "2002-05-13T21:15:27Z")
Just read your column, O Bearer of Light, about why roaches dont die when nuked, and I’m affraid to challenge your multiple hypothesis. The roaches dont die in microwaves because their exoskeletons, just like metal, re… --- ## [Sutra Neti Army-Style . . .](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sutra-neti-army-style/108810)
**Author:** [@Hugh\_Jass\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass_1)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 13, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sutra-neti-army-style/108810 "2002-05-13T18:42:33Z")
As usual, on Monday morning I opened my Straight Dope Digest with the usual breathless anticipation (what can I say, I have a low threshhold of excitement!) and read the classic column about the person who inquired abo… --- ## [Is Paul Bunyan a fraud?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-paul-bunyan-a-fraud/108250)
**Author:** [@pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pumpkin)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [May 13, 2002, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-paul-bunyan-a-fraud/108250 "2002-05-13T14:14:12Z")
If William B. Laughead created Babe and Johnny Inkslinger, I think you missed an opportunity to comment on his pseudonym. I don’t mean to be a loggerhead, or to start a thread that puts us at loggerheads, but Billy be la… --- ## [Origins of the 21 gun salute - Give credit where credit is due.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-21-gun-salute-give-credit-where-credit-is-due/108565)
**Author:** [@spleen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spleen)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-21-gun-salute-give-credit-where-credit-is-due/108565 "2002-05-12T21:51:38Z")
Ian’s answer: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/m21gun.html The army’s answer: http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/faq/salute.htm Strikingly similar answers, wouldn’t you say? The army wrote theirs in 1969. I think that yo… --- ## [Pitch shift in stirring coffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-shift-in-stirring-coffee/107014)
**Author:** [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2002, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-shift-in-stirring-coffee/107014 "2002-05-12T03:54:46Z")
As to the change in the pitch of your spoon hitting your cup mentioned in When I stir my coffee, why does the sound gradually change pitch? , the ball was seriously dropped. No attempt to recreate the effect, no experime… --- ## [Of course Jimmy Carter saw a UFO!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-jimmy-carter-saw-a-ufo/108112)
**Author:** [@Pop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pop)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-course-jimmy-carter-saw-a-ufo/108112 "2002-05-12T02:50:54Z")
The column: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_048.html U.F.O: Unidentified Fying Object Jimmy couldn’t identify the object he was looking at, up in the sky. Therefore it was a UFO. If you ask me if UFOs exist, I… --- ## [Tennis scoring: love and eggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-scoring-love-and-eggs/105404)
**Author:** [@prefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prefect)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [May 11, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-scoring-love-and-eggs/105404 "2002-05-11T16:38:54Z")
I’m engaged in an argument with a friend about the love/zero score in tennis. Cecil’s addressed this in “Why is tennis scoring so weird?”, but my friend won’t accept this argument without more “authoritative” proof. (He’… --- ## [Minor correction to Illuminati answer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-correction-to-illuminati-answer/106721)
**Author:** [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 10, 2002, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-correction-to-illuminati-answer/106721 "2002-05-10T19:32:18Z")
Robert Anton Wilson who was fnord the former Playboy editor, not Robert Shea. --- ## [Bible Codes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bible-codes/74737)
**Author:** [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [May 10, 2002, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bible-codes/74737 "2002-05-10T11:22:54Z")
In reference to What’s up with the “Bible Code”? by Dex: I don’t understand the entire point of the article. The facts that Dex points out - that it is easy to play word games - are well known, and are accepted by all s… --- ## [Has 1 in 8 people had sex with an animal?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-1-in-8-people-had-sex-with-an-animal/106854)
**Author:** [@BlackDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackDuke)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [May 9, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-1-in-8-people-had-sex-with-an-animal/106854 "2002-05-09T01:23:06Z")
Well I for one would agree that this is a rather accurate figure. However if you was to start a poll of how many people have fantasized about having sex with animals and/or the number of persons that would seriously con… --- ## [Why traffic stops on the freeway](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-traffic-stops-on-the-freeway/104001)
**Author:** [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [May 8, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-traffic-stops-on-the-freeway/104001 "2002-05-08T16:25:01Z")
I just want to point out that the Science Hobbyist page has a really excellent explanation of this phenomenon. I had noticed his conclusions myself, but couldn’t put it into words before reading it. I have actually trie… --- ## [Yiddish, Shmiddish](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yiddish-shmiddish/106686)
**Author:** [@Motcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motcha)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [May 7, 2002, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yiddish-shmiddish/106686 "2002-05-07T21:29:13Z")
I’m reasonably certain that “schmuck” is not of Yiddish origin. I suspect Italian slang, or something, but I have been unable to find it in any good Yiddish lexicon. (And I don’t count Leo Rosten’s “Joys of Yiddish” as … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=243) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=245)