# Cecil Adams' secret revealed **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 2000, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-secret-revealed/31469 "2000-08-31T08:07:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-secret-revealed/31469/1 "2000-08-31T08:07:52Z")
I just picked up a book _Just Curious, Jeeves_. (I have to have something to tide me over until the next _Straight Dope_ book comes out.) Basically it’s a book of answers to questions like “How many people have committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge?” “Does a baby chick breathe inside the egg?” and “What’s a chitlin?” But what really surprised me was their claim that Cecil Adams is actually some person they identified as Ed Gotti. Judging from his name, I’m assuming he’s a major figure in organized crime. Of course being the world’s smartest mafiaso, he was able to cover his tracks and his name was never mentioned when the rest of the Gotti family was taken down. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-secret-revealed/31469/2 "2000-08-31T08:42:06Z")
Not to rain on your parade, but we’ve already done this over in Comments. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=34077](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=34077) ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-secret-revealed/31469/3 "2000-08-31T12:05:14Z")
Well, Cecil’s Column here on how telephone area codes are distributed srikes me as VERY similar to Ed **Z** otti’s writing in Ed’s book _Know It All!_. Sure it is rephrased and the examples are moved about. but still… Osip ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-secret-revealed/31469/4 "2000-08-31T12:18:38Z")
Cecil–\> Cecilian? Coincidence? I think not. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-secret-revealed/31469/5 "2000-08-31T14:25:51Z")
> [@](#): > > **Wonko The Sane:** Cecil–\> Cecilian? Coincidence? I think not. Let me know if you get a big dead fish in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-secret-revealed/31469/6 "2000-08-31T15:20:51Z")
Cecil, is NOT a person, but a trademark. However, yes, there are real people with that name, but they are not this one. ---
**Author:** ![aenea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@aenea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aenea)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-secret-revealed/31469/7 "2000-08-31T16:49:10Z")
The link you provided did indeed send us to a thread where this was mentioned. That thread quickly focused on the “what can be seen from ‘space’” issue and had little to no input relating to the OP. Who is Ed Gottie? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-secret-revealed/31469/8 "2000-09-02T05:09:52Z")
Going beyond the OP, as I’ve been reading this book, I’ve had a sense of deja vu. A suspiciously large amount of material in this book seems to be paraphrases of information previously published in _The Straight Dope_. I also think some of its from Feldman’s and Poundstone’s work. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-secret-revealed/31469/9 "2000-09-02T13:00:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\* > Cecil, is NOT a person, but a trademark. However, yes, there are real people with that name, but they are not this one. \*\* One works where I work, but he acted like he wasn’t the real Cecil (I think he was playing dumb).