# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=43 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 44 --- ## [Majorly triggered by Depression Support thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/majorly-triggered-by-depression-support-thread/667910)
**Author:** [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 3, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/majorly-triggered-by-depression-support-thread/667910 "2013-09-03T19:26:23Z")
I have been visiting the SDMB Depression Support thread often. I am working through recovering from an eating disorder, and while I’m eating regularly, I am still in the murky depths of depression, self-esteem, and over… --- ## [Prostitution Prices](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-prices/667593)
**Author:** [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [September 3, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prostitution-prices/667593 "2013-09-03T13:16:34Z")
In this week’s column, Cecil concedes that “tolerance for premarital sex may have reduced demand for professional services (in my opinion minimally)”. It seems to me that the historic economics of the world’s oldest pro… --- ## [Origin of "The Grateful Dead"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-grateful-dead/667874)
**Author:** [@edmund5727119](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edmund5727119)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 3, 2013, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-grateful-dead/667874 "2013-09-03T11:37:52Z")
The origin of “The Grateful Dead” is from a prayer to Osiris in the Book of the Dead. Paraphrase: “We, the grateful dead ,are lead by Anubis to Thee, Osiris, and pray for the intercession of Isis and Horus before the jud… --- ## [Navel Lint](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navel-lint/666984)
**Author:** [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 1, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navel-lint/666984 "2013-09-01T20:33:46Z")
This column. Even if you can’t weave navel lint, you might be able to make felt out of it. Also, it wouldn’t take as long to collect the material for something small, like a hat. Something as big as a belly-button-lint … --- ## [Our psychotic dwarf rabbit, Slick](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-psychotic-dwarf-rabbit-slick/667607)
**Author:** [@ntrubov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntrubov)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 1, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-psychotic-dwarf-rabbit-slick/667607 "2013-09-01T02:18:07Z")
If rabbits don’t chew constantly, will their teeth grow to incredible lengths, causing them to starve? June 15, 1990 Yeah, sure, I’m really really slow. But actually this message just appeared (TSD apparently is runnin… --- ## [Are there still unexplored parts of the world where unknown animals may lurk? August 16, 2013 YES](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-unexplored-parts-of-the-world-where-unknown-animals-may-lurk-august-16-2013-yes/666402)
**Author:** [@Medium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medium)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [August 31, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-unexplored-parts-of-the-world-where-unknown-animals-may-lurk-august-16-2013-yes/666402 "2013-08-31T18:33:05Z")
For the First Time in 35 Years, A New Carnivorous Mammal Species is Discovered in the American Continents. Native to the cloud forests of Ecuador and Colombia, the olinguito is the newest member of the raccoon family. h… --- ## [quantity of snot my body produces](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quantity-of-snot-my-body-produces/667045)
**Author:** [@Tony454tiger1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony454tiger1)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [August 28, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quantity-of-snot-my-body-produces/667045 "2013-08-28T22:15:19Z")
Answer given is half ounce per day. I’ve been just about half dead for 10 days now from a bastard summer cold. I have to say I honestly believe if my car would run on snot I would have totally filled the 20 gallon gas t… --- ## [Where did the Grateful Dead get their name?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-grateful-dead-get-their-name/667302)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 28, 2013, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-grateful-dead-get-their-name/667302 "2013-08-28T10:16:43Z")
I assumed there must’ve been a thread about this column, but couldn’t find it. Wiki has a short page on the “grateful dead” trope, though: Grateful dead (folklore) - Wikipedia --- ## [Stroking animals](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stroking-animals/667331)
**Author:** [@Belisarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belisarius)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 27, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stroking-animals/667331 "2013-08-27T23:13:01Z")
My cats have never liked being stroked where they could tongue-groom themselves, only where they could not reach. (Back of head, under chin.)Does anyone doubt that we serve? LINK TO COLUMN: Could I knit a sweater from … --- ## [What's the story of the Grand Guignol](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-of-the-grand-guignol/667251)
**Author:** [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [August 27, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-of-the-grand-guignol/667251 "2013-08-27T13:43:14Z")
There’s a cultural reference to the Grand Guignol in the movie Mad Love. The movie stared Peter Lorre as Dr. Gogol, a man in love with the macabre. He attends all the theater performances of his secret love, the actress… --- ## [Let's make a deal (about a really, really beaten dead horse)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-deal-about-a-really-really-beaten-dead-horse/663576)
**Author:** [@jacolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacolly)\ **Replies:** 128\ **Last updated:** [August 26, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-deal-about-a-really-really-beaten-dead-horse/663576 "2013-08-26T21:46:33Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/916/on-lets-make-a-deal-you-pick-door-1-monty-opens-door-2-no-prize-do-you-stay-with-door-1-or-switch-to-3 I know that this has been discussed to death, but “Ask Marilyn” is wro… --- ## [Street Light Psykokinesis??](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-light-psykokinesis/665889)
**Author:** [@Santa\_Cruz\_n](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santa_Cruz_n)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [August 23, 2013, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-light-psykokinesis/665889 "2013-08-23T09:02:29Z")
Interesting that, as far as i can tell, no one has mentioned the group “SLIders.” As a die-hard skeptic of anything paranormal, it’s also interesting that I can’t find anything about this in the “Skeptics Dictionary.” … --- ## [Brain Freeze in Adults](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948)
**Author:** [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 23, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-freeze-in-adults/523948 "2013-08-23T07:22:45Z")
Cecil had a column on this misery. It seems like brain freeze becomes more of a problem as I get older. As a kid, my older relatives would take me to the 7-Eleven for an ICEE. I’d be happily slurping away and suddenly … --- ## [Sword Swallowing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sword-swallowing/666439)
**Author:** [@Santa\_Cruz\_n](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santa_Cruz_n)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sword-swallowing/666439 "2013-08-21T20:42:39Z")
As Cecil says, sword swallowing is real and, like fire eating, only takes nerve and practice. The swallowing of the long rubber balloon is, however, an easy magic trick that the sword swallower added in as a clever addi… --- ## ["Who decided women should shave their legs and underarms?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-women-should-shave-their-legs-and-underarms/666790)
**Author:** [@European](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/European)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-women-should-shave-their-legs-and-underarms/666790 "2013-08-21T19:44:52Z")
First, let me apologize if anybody already commented and mentioned this earlier. The post seems to be rather old, but still I feel the need to reply to it. The answer to the ladies question is very interesting and I was… --- ## [Human Cannonball](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-cannonball/417619)
**Author:** [@John\_Kavanagh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kavanagh)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-cannonball/417619 "2013-08-21T13:39:32Z")
On the thread about Human Cannonballs Cecil, peace be unto him, mentions the first such projectile, a “Young woman named Zazel”. Actually it was a young man who at that point in his career posed as a woman becasue his me… --- ## [boats and ships](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boats-and-ships/664755)
**Author:** [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [August 19, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boats-and-ships/664755 "2013-08-19T17:31:59Z")
Original column What’s the difference between a boat and a ship? - The Straight Dope I’ve always heard Cecil’s answer as the correct one but I recently thought up a new one that may work even better. A boat is a vessel … --- ## [Mary Celeste](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-celeste/665870)
**Author:** [@Fury2525](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fury2525)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [August 16, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-celeste/665870 "2013-08-16T19:11:16Z")
I have seeral different versions of how she was found. Some say she was under full sail. Some say one or two sails half out , a jib out and a spinnaker out. Some say she was undamaged, some that a mast was broken an… --- ## [Bitcoins](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins/665779)
**Author:** [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [August 16, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitcoins/665779 "2013-08-16T14:20:21Z")
Cecil’s column Thought I would mention that Thailand has outlawed bitcoins. Story here. --- ## [Why Are Cecil's Archived Comments Rewritten Without Swears?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cecils-archived-comments-rewritten-without-swears/665839)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2013, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cecils-archived-comments-rewritten-without-swears/665839 "2013-08-14T10:37:00Z")
I’ve noticed it in many of Cecil’s old columns. This one would be typical. In it, an apparently troubled man, asks It is signed, naturally, A Pseudo-necrophiliac, Baltimore. Whatever. But I was surprised by Mr. Adams… --- ## [Clockwise swastika?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clockwise-swastika/664954)
**Author:** [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clockwise-swastika/664954 "2013-08-10T23:40:05Z")
I was just reading Cecil’s old column on swastikas: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/440/was-the-swastika-actually-an-old-native-american-symbol The reader said, Cecil replied, How does one describe the rota… --- ## [Pigeons and Cecil](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeons-and-cecil/665738)
**Author:** [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [August 8, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pigeons-and-cecil/665738 "2013-08-08T19:17:20Z")
From today’s classic column about why pigeons thrive in cities: \[QUOTE\] Dear Cecil: \*We are sitting around talking about pigeon excrement and Cecil Adams … \*/QUOTE\] Snerk --- ## [The Photon Belt has its own wiki page now](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-photon-belt-has-its-own-wiki-page-now/665503)
**Author:** [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 8, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-photon-belt-has-its-own-wiki-page-now/665503 "2013-08-08T15:59:53Z")
Cecil’s column, reprinted from 1996/7, says that, despite it being, well, nuts, faith in The Photon Belt continues. I was curious to see if there was still a following, so I googled. Yup. The interest is still out the… --- ## [Quaker Oats and William Penn](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaker-oats-and-william-penn/665516)
**Author:** [@ilcorago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ilcorago)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaker-oats-and-william-penn/665516 "2013-08-07T21:58:49Z")
Is that William Penn on the Quaker Oats box? As a proud Philadelphian, I do have to set the record straight. Despite what Quaker Oats says today, early advertisements from the company were proud to associate their breakf… --- ## [All them people that don't look like me look alike!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-them-people-that-dont-look-like-me-look-alike/665308)
**Author:** [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-them-people-that-dont-look-like-me-look-alike/665308 "2013-08-06T18:11:46Z")
I came across this one in the randomizer: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2452/own-race-bias-revisited I don’t think it’s so much your own race as what you’re used to. Usually the two are one and the same for o… --- ## [Re: Who REALLY Invented the Happy Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413)
**Author:** [@cgknitter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cgknitter)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 5, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413 "2013-08-05T21:28:02Z")
Found your article really informative. I’m with you that the Happy Face was around prior to the early 1970s. I bought an “original” Happy Face mug for my grandmother when I was on a school trip, and I’m pretty sure it … --- ## [What's the likelihood of suffocating a child sleeping in your bed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-likelihood-of-suffocating-a-child-sleeping-in-your-bed/664508)
**Author:** [@jprokos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jprokos)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [August 5, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-likelihood-of-suffocating-a-child-sleeping-in-your-bed/664508 "2013-08-05T15:42:03Z")
Can someone explain? I was never initiated into a religion. What is gospel and what is a bible? LINK TO COLUMN: What’s the likelihood of suffocating a child sleeping in your bed? - The Straight Dope --- ## [Eating cherries and milk on a warm day](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cherries-and-milk-on-a-warm-day/665207)
**Author:** [@Mitsurati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mitsurati)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 3, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-cherries-and-milk-on-a-warm-day/665207 "2013-08-03T01:12:57Z")
I’m surprised the illustrious genius of Cecil Adams did not pick up on the rationale behind the superstition of eating cherries (or strawberries) and milk on a warm day. Before the days before Pasteurization and refriger… --- ## [Isaac Newton a virgin?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isaac-newton-a-virgin/664833)
**Author:** [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [August 2, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isaac-newton-a-virgin/664833 "2013-08-02T18:34:12Z")
Cecil slams mathematicians as being the worst in this category in Was Isaac Newton a virgin? - The Straight Dope So I ask you Cece, how many mathematicians have you known? I’ve known plenty of them and, believe me, we… --- ## [laundry disks, etc.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disks-etc/664993)
**Author:** [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 2, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-disks-etc/664993 "2013-08-02T13:31:02Z")
Just wanted to pick a nit in Do laundry balls really work? - The Straight Dope from yesterday. Increasing the concentration of OH^- ions doesn’t lower the pH of the solution. It raises it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=42) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=44)