so in this thread, cecil writes of appearing on radio. in point of fact, this was not an uncommon occurrence. and I quote,
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has anybody heard any radio shows on which the nacreous Mr Adams has appeared? that should settle once and for all whether Cecil is real*
harrumph.
jb
*providing we can get a recording of Zotti et al, and then have enough people claiming to have heard Cecil interviews, and can do a nice scientific study with controls and everything, comparing and contrasting recognizance of vocal patterns and timbre. I’m not going to write the abstract. I hate doing that.
a ghost voice into who’s ear cecil himself whispered the answers? I believe that with a sophisticated enough filtering system we could remove the voice of the speak-in and have Mr. Adams.
that is, of course, assuming that they (you know, Them) would go to the trouble of hiring a vocal dummy claiming to be Cecil, and would just send Ed claiming to be cec, or make up a new guy (ala the ever-charming Mike) to disseminate the Straight Dope across our nations radio airwaves.
Oh, it’s just a pipe fitting that the world’s smartest human know’s nothing about.
A 90 deg elbo, with female threads on one end, and male threads on the other. He know’s what it is, I’m sure. He just doesn’t know where the term came from.
Cecil’s most embarrassing moment, I call it.
Sorry, Unk.
Peace,
mangeorge
well yes, duh. at issue is not whether the person who orchestrates this whole affiar we call the Dope was born with the name Cecil Adams. I don’t think anyone has asserted that lately, yet this tripe (albeit very well researched tripe) keeps flashing up as the Answer.
At issue is the fact that if one “Cecil Adams” (nudge nudge) has appeared on the radio, we could finally put an end to the longstanding (and not very interesting) Zotti=Adams debate.
so there.
put your thinkin pants on and join the hunt, sweetheart.
When plumbing any utility distribution system, be it liquids or gas, there usually exists a “street” or main pipe from which other delivery pipes branch from. In days past and even now, it is the norm that if you wish to branch from an existing pipe, you must create an opening in that pipe and thread something into it to continue the new run from it.
Ever try to create a contiguous male thread on the side wall of an existing length of pipe? Trust me, it’s no fun at all, and practically impossible. In addition, all lengths of pipe to be added most commonly have male threads at each end. To properly branch a new pipe off of an existing street, you first evacuate the pipe. Then you drill and tap a hole in the main pipe’s wall. That done, the most common thing to do is to install an elbow into the main pipe. This allows you the greatest latitude in positioning the new branching pipe once it is attached.
Now as to elbows, there are commonly male or female elbows that have similar gender threads at each end of the fitting. To avoid using special adapter fittings known as “close nipples” or “close hex nipples” (sounds like fun, huh?), it is better to have a mixed gender elbow. This eliminates the presence of one more fitting (and potential leak point), in the installation. Also, in days of old, extra parts meant lots more labor because they were frequently fabricated on the spot by the workman.
So, here we have it. You branch off of a main run of pipe (your street) by tapping a female thread into it and using a mixed gender elbow fitting to attach the new branch’s length of pipe to the street. Any plumber worth his pipe dope knows that “el” is short for elbow, and voila, that is why a mixed gender elbow is called a “street el”.
Incidentally the same applies to “tee” fittings where the tee’s top bar has one male thread instead of the entire tee having female threads all the way around. This is known as a “street tee” as opposed to its cousin the “branch tee” that has a male thread at the bottom stem of the tee. Having plumbed a mile or two of semiconductor reactor piping this is what I seem to recall. Any questions Cecil?
