# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=306 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 307 --- ## [Franking](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franking/437)
**Author:** [@DORFMONT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DORFMONT)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [January 16, 2000, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franking/437 "2000-01-16T03:30:00Z")
Slav is from the Slavic languages’ word for glory. Therefore far from being slaves, our Eastern European neighbors are glorious. Now the Greek term for slave is doulos. Try looking for something like that if you’re going… --- ## [Berliner? Jelly rolls?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berliner-jelly-rolls/436)
**Author:** [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [January 15, 2000, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berliner-jelly-rolls/436 "2000-01-15T05:59:00Z")
A friend of mine spent some time in West Germany in the 1970’s for the US Army. He says the locals claim that when Kennedy said “I am a Berliner” (in German), this actually translated into calling them “jelly rolls”! Th… --- ## [The Smartest Guy in the world.. maybe](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smartest-guy-in-the-world-maybe/431)
**Author:** [@UnderDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnderDog)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [January 15, 2000, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smartest-guy-in-the-world-maybe/431 "2000-01-15T03:49:00Z")
About that Sidis guy. It seems evident that he had a great aptitude for math, linguistics and perhaps other areas of study. Now, so, he’s ridiculed for being a bookkeepper, a clerk etc. Perhaps he found more joy in these… --- ## [Re-exploring Cecil's Olde Alphabet](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-exploring-cecils-olde-alphabet/429)
**Author:** [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2000, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-exploring-cecils-olde-alphabet/429 "2000-01-14T21:57:00Z")
In Cecil’s first book, he discusses the reason for the use of “f” as “s” in colonial times, for example. His historical coverage is good, but Uncle Cecil left some questions dying to be asked: A1) Where was the “f” in t… --- ## [Does shaving promote beard growth?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-promote-beard-growth/427)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2000, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaving-promote-beard-growth/427 "2000-01-14T03:47:00Z")
Okay, so Cecil said in an early article ( http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_097b.html ) that your hair doesn’t know it has been cut and has to grow back; it just grows more or less continuously. Fair enough. But… … --- ## [Levis / rivets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/levis-rivets/424)
**Author:** [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [January 12, 2000, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/levis-rivets/424 "2000-01-12T06:39:00Z")
in http://www.straightdope.com/columns/991231.html Cecil states '." My guess is they got one beef too many about scratched school chairs. ’ I think it is more like one too many beef too many about scratched cars. Don’… --- ## [Moon's/Orion's Apparent Sizes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moons-orions-apparent-sizes/426)
**Author:** [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [January 12, 2000, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moons-orions-apparent-sizes/426 "2000-01-12T06:02:00Z")
This refers back to the question on the moon’s apparent large size near the horizon. First, Uncle Cecil states the moon actually appears smaller on the horizon because it is 4000 miles further away. Huh? As an amateur a… --- ## [Needle Through the Camel's Eye](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needle-through-the-camels-eye/1416)
**Author:** [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [January 12, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needle-through-the-camels-eye/1416 "2000-01-12T04:28:00Z")
Regarding http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrichman.html I had heard once that the Hebrew word for “rope” is very close to the word for “camel,” and this marvellous metaphor is actually the result of a mistranslatio… --- ## [Lion King/Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-king-hamlet/425)
**Author:** [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [January 12, 2000, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-king-hamlet/425 "2000-01-12T01:57:00Z")
From http://www.straightdope.com/columns/991224.html: \>\>Think Hamlet, \[Sito\] said. “Zazu is Polonius, Scar is Claudius, Rafiki the Shakespearean fool. The father in the clouds is the ghost king appearing on the battleme… --- ## [It \*does\* come in handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-does-come-in-handy/423)
**Author:** [@Quadzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quadzilla)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2000, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-does-come-in-handy/423 "2000-01-11T17:38:00Z")
As a percussionist, and having played timpani for five years now, I can vouch for the usefulness of perfect pitch. Although I don’t think I have it, it comes in handy when trying to tune them. Tuning kettledrums (without… --- ## [If you lit a match in zero gravity, would it smother in it's own smoke?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lit-a-match-in-zero-gravity-would-it-smother-in-its-own-smoke/422)
**Author:** [@speakeasy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/speakeasy)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2000, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lit-a-match-in-zero-gravity-would-it-smother-in-its-own-smoke/422 "2000-01-11T06:48:00Z")
\[Dear Cecil: If a match is lit in an atmosphere like earth’s but outside of gravity’s pull, will it suffocate? Will it snuff out from its own gases faster than if it had a steady earthbound updraft to refresh it with m… --- ## [Why is my face upside down when viewed in a spoon bowl?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-face-upside-down-when-viewed-in-a-spoon-bowl/421)
**Author:** [@pennystheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pennystheman)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 10, 2000, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-face-upside-down-when-viewed-in-a-spoon-bowl/421 "2000-01-10T21:06:00Z")
There is a very easy way to see the way other people see you, without a complex series of concave and convex mirrors. Simply get two regular mirrors, and touch them at the edges at a 90 degree angle. Look at the angle, a… --- ## [The Smell of Fear](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smell-of-fear/420)
**Author:** [@AmandaA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmandaA)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [January 10, 2000, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smell-of-fear/420 "2000-01-10T14:42:00Z")
I think Cecil’s column on an animal’s ability to smell fear was absolutely correct, but I also think the subject could be looked at a little broader. Once, our dog trainer (okay, he was a dog psychologist; we lived in L.… --- ## [Zed/alphabet song/mozart?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zed-alphabet-song-mozart/1413)
**Author:** [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [January 10, 2000, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zed-alphabet-song-mozart/1413 "2000-01-10T09:17:00Z")
“The plan was, take a catchy tune by some pop composer like, oh, say Mozart, and attach the alphabet to it.” Was the tune that we now know as the alphabet song really written by Mozart? That’s pretty cool. What is it’s… --- ## [Radios at Mach I?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radios-at-mach-i/1411)
**Author:** [@inertia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inertia)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 10, 2000, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radios-at-mach-i/1411 "2000-01-10T00:20:00Z")
Would the Doppler effect necessitate moving the dial to keep up with a set frequency as one accelerated to Mach 1? --- ## [Rivets on Levi's](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rivets-on-levis/419)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2000, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rivets-on-levis/419 "2000-01-09T23:46:00Z")
Drop your drawers Cecil… All the rivets on Levi’s go completely thru the jeans. Look on the inside of your back pockets. No rivets! --- ## [PLEASE READ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-read/418)
**Author:** [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2000, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-read/418 "2000-01-09T22:42:00Z")
This is the appropriate forum in which to post comments and questions you have about new, recent, or classic columns by Cecil Adams. If you have such comments and questions, please add a hyperlink to the column you are d… --- ## [Urine as bactine](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urine-as-bactine/417)
**Author:** [@hightechburrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hightechburrito)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2000, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urine-as-bactine/417 "2000-01-09T06:55:00Z")
After reading Cecil’s column were urine was used as an antiseptic in some countries, I remembered something I heard from a produce worker at the grocery store where I work. When they were working on farms, if they were t… --- ## [Evolution](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution/1398)
**Author:** [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [January 9, 2000, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution/1398 "2000-01-09T02:56:00Z")
I think the accepted thinking is that birds evolved from reptiles, not vice-versa. Archeopteryx is a good example of a bird with dinosaur ancestry. Not all dinosaurs were giant, just the “popular” ones (The giant meat-e… --- ## [Serial Killer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-killer/416)
**Author:** [@Smcdonald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smcdonald)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2000, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-killer/416 "2000-01-08T04:42:00Z")
Have any of you seen those stickers on cars that say “serial killer”? I see these things all over the place. Most of the time I’m pretty up on pop culture, but this is really stumping me. What the hell do these mean? Are… --- ## [Isaac Newton probably NOT a virgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isaac-newton-probably-not-a-virgin/415)
**Author:** [@RobRoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobRoy)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2000, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isaac-newton-probably-not-a-virgin/415 "2000-01-07T23:49:00Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4\_208.html While he may not have lost it to a woman, the question still remains open as to whether he might have lost it to a man… http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/7/0,571… --- ## [Flame in zero G's.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flame-in-zero-gs/414)
**Author:** [@Smcdonald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smcdonald)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flame-in-zero-gs/414 "2000-01-07T20:34:00Z")
Okay, so I read this thread and it occured to me: According to all this research, what the interstellar explosions from the movies look like? I am sure that there are all kinds of variable factors that would contribute t… --- ## [Time travel is easier than that](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-is-easier-than-that/411)
**Author:** [@hussman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hussman)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-is-easier-than-that/411 "2000-01-07T16:48:00Z")
I’m sure you knew this, but according to Einstein’s special theory of relativity, we can travel into the future with conventional technology, provided we can somehow accelerate to close to the speed of light. Time dilat… --- ## [Canadian Mountain Dew](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-mountain-dew/1397)
**Author:** [@KeithM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithM)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2000, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-mountain-dew/1397 "2000-01-07T16:02:00Z")
Thank you, oh, thank you, for the little aside comment in the ‘caffiene in soft drinks’ answer that mentioned Mountain Dew has the second-highest caffiene content among readily available soft drinks, but apparently has n… --- ## [What calendar does China use?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-calendar-does-china-use/410)
**Author:** [@Smcdonald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smcdonald)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2000, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-calendar-does-china-use/410 "2000-01-07T16:01:00Z")
I know this is an incredibly short posting, but: What calenday does China use? Is it the Roman/Gregorian calendar we use here? I can’t find the answer anywhere and it is making me feel stoooopid! If it is a different… --- ## [Moderators Wanted](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderators-wanted/1396)
**Author:** [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moderators-wanted/1396 "2000-01-07T14:15:00Z")
Please note, at the top of entry page, Ed has posted a notice that we are looking for a few new moderators. The link: Wanted. New Moderators. Apply within. --- ## [Here's a thought to ponder,](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-thought-to-ponder/409)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2000, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-a-thought-to-ponder/409 "2000-01-07T05:49:00Z")
Well all you youth with your hulla-hoops, pac-man video games, and 2 second attention spans (bonus points if you know where thats from) should realize that if the people of the future would have invented “time machines” … --- ## [On renouncing US citizenship (Aug 97)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-renouncing-us-citizenship-aug-97/406)
**Author:** [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-renouncing-us-citizenship-aug-97/406 "2000-01-07T02:45:00Z")
You may recall the column: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/970808.html In which Cecil follows up to the question of the guy who wanted to resign his US citizenship as a form of protest, with a modest contributory no… --- ## [The use of "English" in billiards](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-english-in-billiards/1391)
**Author:** [@Eireson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eireson)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2000, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-english-in-billiards/1391 "2000-01-07T02:29:00Z")
Staff Ian I am afraid, got this one wrong. Having wasted many hours playing the game with English and Irish players, I always understood the term to have been applied by Americans to the practice of English players who … --- ## [How does one become a knight?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-knight/1389)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2000, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-knight/1389 "2000-01-07T02:24:00Z")
Howdy. My 11 year-old son, the bottomless question pit, wants to know how a person becomes knighted. I found your topic about becoming an “Esquire” enlightening, http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mesquire.html but, u… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=305) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=307)