# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=266 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 267 --- ## [More nitpicking: Tycho's nose](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-nitpicking-tychos-nose/62217)
**Author:** [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [May 4, 2001, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-nitpicking-tychos-nose/62217 "2001-05-04T18:44:39Z")
In the Tycho thread, Cecil writes “Attending a dance at a professor’s house, he got into a quarrel with one Manderup Parsbjerg, like himself a member of the Danish gentry.” Seems to me that’s a rather abrupt shift in ant… --- ## [Origin of hip](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hip/63957)
**Author:** [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 4, 2001, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hip/63957 "2001-05-04T14:10:02Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhip.html In the Wolof language of West Africa, hipikat means ‘one whose eyes are open’. As the etymon for hepcat meaning someone who is aware, in the know, with it, this makes way mo… --- ## [Does hot water freeze faster than cold water?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hot-water-freeze-faster-than-cold-water/63524)
**Author:** [@coolestwhiteboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coolestwhiteboy)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [May 4, 2001, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hot-water-freeze-faster-than-cold-water/63524 "2001-05-04T00:07:52Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_098b There’s the link. Reading this column stirred a memory in my mind (as opposed to other people’s minds) of hearing about this phenomenon in a 1st-semester chemistry class in c… --- ## [Cold and penis shrinkage](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-and-penis-shrinkage/63653)
**Author:** [@PassinThru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PassinThru)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 3, 2001, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-and-penis-shrinkage/63653 "2001-05-03T10:54:06Z")
Jill, I just discovered this site and have had some good times reading it. Your answers are excellent–except this one. You correctly tell how testicles shrink, but you missed big time on the penis. Trust me, they shrin… --- ## [Hip, Hep, Hooray!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hep-hooray/63896)
**Author:** [@Thursday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thursday)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [May 3, 2001, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hip-hep-hooray/63896 "2001-05-03T09:19:06Z")
Another possible source for the origin of “Hip” (and “Hep”, “Hippie”, etc) is given by Bill Bryson’s book “Made in America”. Apparently, there is a West African tribe that uses the word “hepicat” to mean “someone who see… --- ## [Tycho Brahe](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahe/63095)
**Author:** [@qoncept](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qoncept)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 30, 2001, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahe/63095 "2001-04-30T05:20:25Z")
In my physics class my senior year in high school, our teacher went in to a much more elaborate description of Tycho’s death. He got himself in to a drinking contest with someone and died when his bladder burst. Any trut… --- ## [Smooshed Pennies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooshed-pennies/61723)
**Author:** [@crispy24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crispy24)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [April 29, 2001, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooshed-pennies/61723 "2001-04-29T06:33:36Z")
Just read the smooshed pennies letter in the mail bag: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtrackpenny.html I am under the impression that currency is federal property, and that regular people like me are prohibited fr… --- ## [Shrunken heads](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrunken-heads/63371)
**Author:** [@stevehaddock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stevehaddock)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [April 28, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrunken-heads/63371 "2001-04-28T00:10:02Z")
Just wanted to point out that, ironically, I believe the largest collection of shrunken heads may be in the possession of the kitchy “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” Museums. Ripley collected many of the heads in his travels… --- ## [Fortune cookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies/63525)
**Author:** [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 27, 2001, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies/63525 "2001-04-27T22:05:49Z")
You can also replace the fortunes in the fortune cookies easier if you soften them up in the microwave for a few seconds first. --- ## [Bugs Falling great distances...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bugs-falling-great-distances/61244)
**Author:** [@PrtzAltoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrtzAltoid)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [April 27, 2001, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bugs-falling-great-distances/61244 "2001-04-27T16:32:40Z")
If a human falls out of a sixth story window, he/she dies. When a bug falls from a proportional height, six inches or so, it should not. Your post stated that this happens because a bug has a smaller mass to surface area… --- ## [Insect flatulence](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-flatulence/63406)
**Author:** [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [April 26, 2001, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-flatulence/63406 "2001-04-26T17:42:07Z")
In this thread, Insect Flatulence we find that most insects don’t. But what about solid … um… wastes… Do they “take a dump” or are insect digestive systems very efficient? --- ## [What do ants do when it rains?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-ants-do-when-it-rains/60844)
**Author:** [@catholicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catholicguy)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [April 26, 2001, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-ants-do-when-it-rains/60844 "2001-04-26T16:40:17Z")
Why they- go down, in the earth, to get out of the rain. Link to Staff Report: Where do ants go to get out of the rain? – CKDH \[Edited by C K Dexter Haven on 04-05-2001 at 07:06 AM\] --- ## [Cecil, can you update this?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-can-you-update-this/61965)
**Author:** [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [April 26, 2001, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-can-you-update-this/61965 "2001-04-26T11:14:46Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_329a.html This is the Straight Classic question from Cecil’s first book. He says the most expensive thing in the world was Californium-252 at $1,000 a microgram. Since this answ… --- ## [baseball](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball/63288)
**Author:** [@vh5150\_81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vh5150_81)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 25, 2001, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball/63288 "2001-04-25T15:02:19Z")
Can someone explain to me why a balk is not one of the 5 ways to get to first base without hitting the ball? --- ## [Bermuda Triangle Revisited](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bermuda-triangle-revisited/63248)
**Author:** [@Falcon5768](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon5768)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 25, 2001, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bermuda-triangle-revisited/63248 "2001-04-25T10:42:31Z")
A while back I heard they found those planes that got lost, and that they where WAY!!! off course of where everyone said they where. This show that the Triangle is fake? --- ## [Do Italian last names with della/delle &c. indicate nobility?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-italian-last-names-with-della-delle-c-indicate-nobility/63182)
**Author:** [@nisi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisi)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 25, 2001, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-italian-last-names-with-della-delle-c-indicate-nobility/63182 "2001-04-25T07:29:34Z")
I was just reading this article, and I wanted to add that my parents tell me those names that begin with “Mal-”, like Malfara, Malatesta &c. indicate that somewhere along the line, there was an orphan. Orphans would get … --- ## [By and Large-American? English?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-and-large-american-english/62459)
**Author:** [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [April 25, 2001, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-and-large-american-english/62459 "2001-04-25T00:30:40Z")
Dex wrote his usual well-done answer to a question here. The question wanted to know the origin of the phrase by and large. The questioner aluded to it being American. Dex nicely replied with a quote from British literat… --- ## [US Intelligence Agencies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-intelligence-agencies/62449)
**Author:** [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [April 24, 2001, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-intelligence-agencies/62449 "2001-04-24T22:32:28Z")
Sent to me by a reader who asked me to post it: Did anybody notice that in SDSTAFF Manny’s answer to the question about what the 13 U.S. intelligence agencies are and what they do, he didn’t actually list the agencies o… --- ## [Telescope hadn't been invented yet?!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telescope-hadnt-been-invented-yet/62262)
**Author:** [@Fitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fitz)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [April 24, 2001, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telescope-hadnt-been-invented-yet/62262 "2001-04-24T05:32:42Z")
Um, not to accuse you of anything like Eurocentrism, or anything tediously PC like that, Cecil, but what do you think is the likelyhood that the telescope hadn’t been invented somewhere in the world by the 16th century? … --- ## [RE: Why does asparagus make your pee smell funny?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-does-asparagus-make-your-pee-smell-funny/62550)
**Author:** [@Non-Curved\_Narcotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Non-Curved_Narcotic)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 23, 2001, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-does-asparagus-make-your-pee-smell-funny/62550 "2001-04-23T23:03:59Z")
I was recently browsing through the Straight Dope archives, just doing a little light reading, when I came across the entry on asparagus and why eating it makes your pee smell funny (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/… --- ## [Soup to nuts/leaving port](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-to-nuts-leaving-port/63007)
**Author:** [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 23, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soup-to-nuts-leaving-port/63007 "2001-04-23T16:14:00Z")
In the column on the origins of the phrase, soup to nuts, (which, incidentally, P.G.Wodehouse used quite often, writing in America c.1920s) SDSTAFF Lara commented on the Victorian habit of women leaving the room while th… --- ## [Suicide by Profession](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-by-profession/62662)
**Author:** [@Alien\_Of\_Earth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alien_Of_Earth)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [April 23, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-by-profession/62662 "2001-04-23T15:49:05Z")
gee…from the sound of the column, maybe the teeming millions are getting to our favorite columnist… Chris --- ## [The Gerbil Stuffing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gerbil-stuffing/62893)
**Author:** [@Larasque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larasque)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 23, 2001, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gerbil-stuffing/62893 "2001-04-23T13:46:39Z")
I came across an article about a gay couple in Salt Lake City who were “stuffing” and the gerbil got stuck and it resulted in serious injuries. There was a press conference held by the hospital and everything. This was q… --- ## [The whole nine yards](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/57521)
**Author:** [@RoseGryphn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoseGryphn)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [April 23, 2001, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/57521 "2001-04-23T11:58:32Z")
I understand that the origin of the phrase “The whole nine yards.” has been in dispute. I remember reading that it originated from the approximate amount of cloth in an authentic kilt. (Not the kind of newfangled kilt th… --- ## [Not to be a dick, but...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-to-be-a-dick-but/59539)
**Author:** [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-to-be-a-dick-but/59539 "2001-04-22T20:10:47Z")
I just noticed in Slug’s accompanying drawing for Cecil’s Swiss cheese holes column, he should have, on the sign, “Cecil’s” as a possesive with an apostrophe. I don’t know why that’s been bugging me, but I had to scratc… --- ## [Sunscreen column ought to be amended](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunscreen-column-ought-to-be-amended/62588)
**Author:** [@Adria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adria)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [April 22, 2001, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunscreen-column-ought-to-be-amended/62588 "2001-04-22T17:59:59Z")
I see that Cecil’s brief discussion of sunscreen has been run again. Since that summer approacheth, and skin cancer rates continue to rise, he really ought to amend that column in at least one significant way: Titanium … --- ## [A S.O.B. Named Sue](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-s-o-b-named-sue/39129)
**Author:** [@ToddEverett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToddEverett)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-s-o-b-named-sue/39129 "2001-04-21T01:05:49Z")
CBS Records recently re-released the “Johnny Cash at San Quentin” album with several added tracks and the “son of a bitch” restored to its rightful glory --- ## [2+2=5](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-2-5/62506)
**Author:** [@eniac18000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eniac18000)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [April 19, 2001, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-2-5/62506 "2001-04-19T20:12:17Z")
I guess it just depends on the math your using. Numbers like any other symbol in mathematics are used to imply value, which follow a given set of rules when manipulated. Change the value and give the rules a little tweak… --- ## [Tycho Brahe's untimely, but hilarious, death](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205)
**Author:** [@Tennessee\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tennessee_Ben)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [April 19, 2001, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205 "2001-04-19T18:13:05Z")
In the Straight Dope Classic article of July 17, 1998 that’s currently on the front page, Cecil educates us that: In his novel Immortality, Milan Kundera relates that Tycho Brahe did in fact die at the dinner of some l… --- ## ["Killer" Sound](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-sound/61523)
**Author:** [@Nisan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nisan)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [April 19, 2001, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-sound/61523 "2001-04-19T12:43:40Z")
Just an interesting tidbit regarding low frequency sound and it’s ability to harm- Zookeepers noticed delocalized pain in their bodies whenever handling an agitated elephant. Subsequently, scientists discovered that el… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=265) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=267)