Sometime in high school during the early to mid 80s someone in my circle of friends had the first book. I read that one and a couple others. When I went to the University of Maryland the column was in the Washington City Paper. I was already picking that up to see what bands were playing in the area and to read Life is Hell and *Zippy the Pinhead. * Several years later I saw the AOL site. Eventually I made it to the website.
I think it might have been the TV show… the time frame fits, because in 1997 after I got out of college and had a few bucks, I ordered all of the Straight Dope books from Amazon, and one of them had a URL for the main site printed on it, and from there, found the SDMB.
ISTR reading alt.fan.Cecil-Adams at some point as well- could have been prior to the TV show, or afterward; I don’t recall exactly.
Google probably led me to the web site. Started reading the archive of columns and enjoyed them.
Never saw a newspaper that carried this column or any books.
Early 1980s, used to read it in the *Chicago Reader *every week. The column kept me up to date on the books and, eventually, the website. My copy of the first book has “1984” written on the inside cover (by me; I always annotate when I buy a book).
Same here. I even got a question published in both the paper and one of the books. Link.
I googled for the answer to something on the web - why the term “missionary position”, I think - and found the site. Spent loads of time reading archived columns, then moved cautiously on to lurking on the Board. Maybe 3 years ago?
I was once by the scene of a bank robbery when this blue-and-red flash stopped it and flew away.
I could have sworn I heard it say before it left, “Truth, Justice, and The American Way!”
I Googled it, found a quote from a thread here & have stayed ever since… 
Someone I “worked” with on AOL brought the forum to my attention back in 1994 or so. Maybe he’s still here. Hi Rummie!
One of the Straight Dope books was shelved next to books by David Feldman’s Imponderables books, so I picked it up as well. One thing led to another.
I was randomly browsing the Humor section of my local Barnes & Nobles bookstore and happened upon a book of facts that I sat and read through for quite a while. Later, I needed someplace to vent about Obama’s election and looked up this place. So you can blame Obama for me being here 
I’d been lurking on this board for over a year before I was aware that there was a column. This is the first time I’m hearing of any books.
Found the AOL version of the SDMB before the push-pin era arrived; there was a link on the AOL Welcome screen that pushed or suggested it, and I clicked.
Read the Cecil Adams columns later in response to SDMB, instead of the other way around.
When I first had access to AOL, I searched on Circus Peanuts, because they always freaked me out. I was linked to an article and/or discussion on Circus Peanuts at Straight Dope.
So, somewhere around 1998, my curiosity about Circus Peanuts got me here.
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The Pitch magazine.
A friend of mine had one of the paperback collections of Cecil’s columns with him in the summer of 1988, when we were on a New Hampshire lake goofing off. I read it and really liked it. Years later, on a whim, I Googled “Straight Dope” and found this site. I’ve been hooked ever since.
What would be the inverse of “I just moved the parsley and there it was”? Hmmm
I found it surprisingly tasty and reasonably tender for a board of its vintage.
That was over 17 years ago. I can’t remember 17 minutes ago…
Some web search on some subject led me to one of Cecil’s columns. From there I found the site and read the archives. I think. Either that or something to do with aliens and a probe.
Sounds like a core temperature situation.
I’ve told this story here before, but I think it’s worth repeating. In 1986, I was nine years old and saw a segment on the Today Show with Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley about the first Straight Dope book coming out in paperback. They probably interviewed Little Ed, but I don’t remember that. I do remember they talked about how the m’s get on m&m’s and why there isn’t (well, wasn’t at the time, I suppose) a channel 1 on TV.
We went to visit my family in Scotland for the first time at Christmas that year, and when we were in the airport, I asked my mom to buy me the book so I’d have something to read on the plane. Obviously, we were in too much of a hurry to catch the flight for her to look at the table of contents or any of the pictures, because she bought it for me. I remember staying up way into the night, hiding under the covers so my granddad wouldn’t see the light and yell at me to go to sleep, and being exposed to all kinds of words and concepts that were WAY too adult for my little nine-year-old brain. I was fascinated, frightened, disturbed, and absolutely hooked on finding out as much about this weird, crazy world as I possibly could. Just about everything I am today can be blamed on Cecil and that book. Fortunately, I haven’t killed anyone. Yet.
[Someone shared a thread on Chronicle of Higher Ed about a mystery work trip. They were given clues every day and we’re trying to guess the outing. I lurked for a bit and was sucked in.]
Oops. Misread the thread. Never saw the books or columns before here.
I was more of an Imponderables gal. Sorry.