In 1989 I was posted to Montreal and discovered the “Mirror” and, with it, the Straight Dope. I eventually started reading Cecil’s columns online when that became possible. I think I started lurking in the board around 2005-ish.
Getting Past German Immigration | Foil Arms and Hog
“When a German says they have a little bit of English, what do they mean?”
“They speak English better than you.”
^^
That’s hilarious 
! Thanks for the laugh.
I frequently ran across the dope as a reference when googling misc. questions.
This. I was reading the SD column in The Isthmus in Madison (WI) when I started grad school there in the early '90s. Once the WWW took off, I quickly found the SD website and started reading the column there. It didn’t occur to me to check out the message board until the mid-2000s, but once I did, I was impressed with the FQ forum, and signed up. I was soon surprised by how much I also appreciated the IMHO and MPSS forums.
I found the board in college, in 1999/2000, after seeing the television show with Mike Lukas.
Unbeknownst to me, I was drawn into signing up in May 2000, by the future-clairvoyant action of @TriPolar, who is far, far more attractive and has telekinetic abilities.
Tripler
Think of him as a young, rugged Bruce Willis with ESP.
When I worked at a credit union we had a member who was always falling for every scam out there and claiming how she didn’t understand how all of these transactions were coming out of her account. I was reviewing her account for her one day and saw some debits from some company I hadn’t heard of. I googled it and a thread here about it popped up. It was some pyramid scam, I forget which one. But I started reading the board and got hooked.
I discovered The Straight Dope newspaper column when I started college in '83, and started reading the local alternative weekly newspaper (Madison, WI’s The Isthmus). At some point in my college years, I also bought the first two paperback collections of the columns.
When I first went online, in '95, I was using AOL, and soon discovered the Straight Dope forum and discussion group on AOL. Though I wasn’t one of the original '99ers when the discussion group transitioned from AOL to a Web-based board, I followed pretty soon after (my join date here is in 2000).
Nitpick: voilà! Diacritical marks are important.
I found the columns around 2010 or 2011 and did not realize that there was a forum attached for ages. But when I found out I pretty soon had to correct someone on some very important topic and then I was corrected in turn and it has been like that ever since.
I am disappointed that you have not yet read my contributions with the attention they merit. But you will, I am patient.
Oh! And welcome, deneen!
Thank you for the translation.
Same. Think I typed in bored.com and straightdope was in the list of links on the page that came up. This was circa 2000 or so.
I don’t really remember but it was maybe 2002 when I followed someone from one mb to another and another. Brunchma was one. Then here. I Stuck around for a bit then left but I reappeared later. None of the other mb are still functioning afaik
Another “I read the books and searched for a web presence”.
I read the columns for years. Had the first book and maybe the second. I noticed one day one of my fellow profs was reading the column online. Maybe 1997? So I started reading the column online. Then board-dom ensued.
It’s sad to ponder how there will never be any more books, not even in the cheaper-to-publish ebook form. With updates and organized into categories. My fatberg question will never be compiled.
I’d read the Straight Dope books and searched through Alta Vista.
I had never read the books or columns, but I found out about alt.fan.cecil-adams from reading alt.folklore.urban. I think that years later I must have been searching for an answer to some question and I found the Straight Dope website. Or maybe there was a link from the Snopes website that led me here?
No, we’re not smarter, just pickier. I spend way too much time proofing and editing my posts. I’ll even google terms and change verb tenses (I’m still not sure how to conjugate that pesky pluperfect)…
Oh, and I resent the fact that when I’m talking to someone in real life, I don’t get a five-minute EDIT window.
Fifteen minutes, now. 
IIRC Google lead me to Cecil’s online column. I started reading them. Eventually I followed the link to this board.
I lurked for a long time. It was a intimidating place back then. There had to be fifty or more very active posters. Skilled professionals in various fields kindly answered questions in GQ.
Eventually I started posting and it didn’t take long to put my foot in my mouth. Several times. Trial by fire.
I eventually learned better.
Back in the mid-90s, a co-worker loaned me a couple of the Straight Dope books, which I devoured. I liked Cecil’s style, and his answers to questions were spot-on.
A couple of years later, the co-worker mentioned that the Straight Dope was online. I was happy to read the columns as they appeared, once a week.
Then, one day when work was particularly boring, I clicked on the message board link off the main page. Holy hannah, this was a whole new world. I had been used to local dial-up BBSs, but this was a BBS on steroids. So many people, so many experts, so many questions that were knowledgeably answered. I lurked for about a year, probably. If I had signed up immediately, I could call myself a 99er.
Anyway, I did eventually sign up (not as a 99er, but at least I have a four-digit user number), and I’ve been here ever since. I’ve been a part of other message boards, but this one is always steady, accurate in answers, and just plain fun.