# Did You Come Here Because of Straight Dope **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657 "2011-07-20T01:48:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/21 "2011-07-20T05:44:05Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > In other words did you join this board due to Cecil Adams’ column and books? Yes. Hooked on Unca Cece since the first SD book came out in the early 80’s. Signed on to these here Message Boards in '08 after lurking for a very long time. . ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/22 "2011-07-20T06:19:45Z")
I followed a link from somewhere and liked the forums; why did you come here? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/23 "2011-07-20T06:36:09Z")
First saw the books and bought them. I flipped through the first one and saw “What’s the H in Jesus H Christ stand for?” and Cecil’s answer that it stood for “Harold, as in Our Lord Harold be thy name.” With that, I became a Straight Doper for life. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/24 "2011-07-20T07:13:35Z")
Nope. Got directed here from Snopes. ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/25 "2011-07-20T11:01:18Z")
No I followed a link to a thread on here, from another message board… ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/26 "2011-07-20T11:31:04Z")
I started reading the column in the Baltimore City Paper in the late 70s and bought a couple of the books when they came out. When I moved to Ohio in 2000, I did a web search to see if there was a local paper that carried the column, and found the web site. I began reading the site pretty regularly, and eventually followed a thread-spotting link to the board. I lurked for a few years before joining. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/27 "2011-07-20T12:17:22Z")
Yup. I used to pass the time at work by reading through the archives online (I’m pretty sure I’d read them all, at some point), and then one day, I happened to notice a link to the message boards. Now I’m here all day every day, and hardly ever read the column (don’t tell Cecil!). ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/28 "2011-07-20T12:27:58Z")
Yes - I’d been reading SD books for years before the internet was even a household word. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/29 "2011-07-20T12:29:18Z")
From the _City Paper_ to the books to alt.fan.cecil-adams to this. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/30 "2011-07-20T12:47:45Z")
Yes. Some column or other drew me here in 2001, and I joined at that time. Then, I didn’t post anything for something like two years, and then suddenly I got hooked, and here I am. Ten years of my life. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/31 "2011-07-20T15:03:01Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > Nope. Got directed here from Snopes. Yip. Got directed to the column from Snopes. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/32 "2011-07-20T15:04:57Z")
I said yes, but it’s not quite so. I \*found \*this site because I’d read the books, but the message board sucked me on its own volition – it was the posters that made me join, not The Master. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/33 "2011-07-20T15:18:49Z")
I came here when someone linked to **Blinkie’s** Ask a thread. At the time I’d never heard of Cecil. My life was terribly deprived at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/34 "2011-07-20T15:40:28Z")
Nope I was a message board junkie when the board was on AOL. When it moved I didn’t know so I missed out on the first year or so but then I saw a link somewhere. Maybe it was Snopes. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/35 "2011-07-20T15:44:15Z")
Yes, I used to read the column in the New York Press. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/36 "2011-07-20T15:50:20Z")
It was AOL circa 1997, when they displayed “Cecil’s Brain.” I guess I have a weakness for cerebral cartography. Hooked ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/37 "2011-07-20T17:01:57Z")
I voted no - because while I’d _known_ of them and loved them for years, I never got into the message board thing. Until someone forwarded Scylla’s The Horror of Blimps to me. Scared the hell out of my husband - he came running into the room to find out why I was wheezing so loudly he could hear me 2 rooms away. He thought I was dying… and I was, but of laughter :). ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/38 "2011-07-20T17:15:24Z")
Some site on the internet, I think it was Snopes, lead me to the archive of the Dope columns. So then I started to read them, read almost all the ones that were interesting to me and then I got bored. Then I thought, “What’s this message board thingy?” and I read it for quite awhile before something interested me enough to comment on. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/39 "2011-07-20T17:53:07Z")
Yes. It was the “why does a shower curtain billow?” debacle with different answers and about three revisits. Once some geek went all out and modeled it with atmospheric simulation software I was intrigued by a mention of it on Slashdot and followed it to Cecil’s writeup about it. From there I read a few columns, and some threadspotting, then joined when someone posted a “what would your porn name be(first pet, mother’s maiden name)” thread and I couldn’t resist. Enjoy, Romeo Grandstaff ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657/40 "2011-07-20T17:59:13Z")
I stumbled upon the straight dope from a google search. I got addicted and started reading the articles daily. One day I noticed the forums button and started browsing. The tongue-in-cheek, nothing is too sacred to denounce or make fun of attitude lured me and the thought-provoking and insightful commentaries while maintaining the biting wit has kept me reading almost daily. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-come-here-because-of-straight-dope/589657.md?page=3)