# Did Dear Abby just say what I think she said **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737 "2005-06-17T19:04:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/21 "2005-06-17T21:50:33Z")
The **Newark Star-Ledger** didn’t include the line. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/22 "2005-06-17T21:58:49Z")
Not in the _Los Angeles Times_, Orange County edition. I will attempt to find out if it’s in the _Orange County Register_. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/23 "2005-06-17T22:03:18Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You are, I think, confusing her with her twin sister “Ann Landers,” (Esther Pauline “Eppie” Friedman Lederer), who died 3 years ago. “Abigail Van Buren” is/was Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips. Could be, I never cared much for either of them, but I _thought_ that both of them passed within short times of one another. Still, it looks like Abby’s alive. Regardless of having Alzheimer’s or not, the line’s still funny, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/24 "2005-06-17T22:04:27Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You are, I think, confusing her with her twin sister “Ann Landers,” (Esther Pauline “Eppie” Friedman Lederer), who died 3 years ago. “Abigail Van Buren” is/was Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips. You know, you’d think that having twins would be confusing enough for any set of parents without deliberately making their names almost identical… ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/25 "2005-06-17T22:07:07Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You know, you’d think that having twins would be confusing enough for any set of parents without deliberately making their names almost identical… Many people think it’s “cute” to give their twins names which are similar or rhyme such as “Gary” and “Terry” (a pair of twins that I knew). ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/26 "2005-06-18T00:01:49Z")
_Columbus Dispatch_ didn’t run it either. I remember reading in one of their columns (I could never keep Ann and Abby straight) that each newspaper edits to fit the space they have that day. (Someone complained about having read an incomplete answer.) GT ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/27 "2005-06-18T00:46:37Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > It would seem that different publications edit the column to suit their tastes (and space constraints). The articles run in length from 330 to 697 words. For example, some articles open with _I married “Simon,” a year ago_, while some open with _I married the love of my life, “Simon,” a year ago_. (runs off to check paper) Well, my paper (the State Journal-Register of Springfield, IL) omits the bolded “balls” sentence. And FWIW it does include “the love of my life.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/28 "2005-06-20T18:49:36Z")
_The Buffalo News_ had the line, I did a double take and said wow, that’s funny. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/29 "2005-06-20T19:31:30Z")
It was in the _Albany (GA) Herald_ even! I gotta call my sister tonight and ask her if it appeared in the lil ol’ hometown daily. It’d be just a scandal in that little town! They’ll all be up at The Idle Hour Pub talkin’ about it if it did. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/30 "2005-06-20T20:12:20Z")
FWIW, four more publications picked up the story after my last post: Tulsa World, The Record (Hackensack, N.J.), Charleston Gazette, The Grand Rapids Press. None contain the “balls” line. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/31 "2005-06-20T20:51:09Z")
The Nashville Tennessean (Gannett) did NOT have the “balls” line. I literally RAN to dig out that paper and see if it was there. How disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/32 "2005-06-20T23:28:47Z")
FTR, the original Dear Abby (Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips) is still alive, but retired from the column several years ago soon after her identical twin sister, Esther Pauline Friedman Lederer (aka Ann Landers), died. I’ve always liked Ann Landers more, but they have both given similar advice over the years. Since her daughter has taken over the column, Dear Abby has definitely been a bit more in tune with today’s mores and has used language that can be construed as more risque at times. But so what? This hubbub about the missing “balls” is ridiculous. If anything, it’s just a double entrendre. Remember the hilarious SNL skit with Alec Baldwin’s sweaty balls?! ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737/33 "2005-06-21T01:37:51Z")
Shweaty Wiener was better. Ana Gasteyer said “peener” instead of wiener. I fell off my couch. I have no idea how Alec Baldwin kept a straight face. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-dear-abby-just-say-what-i-think-she-said/308737.md?page=1)