# How many times does your heart beat per year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 14, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-does-your-heart-beat-per-year/123873 "2002-08-14T17:32:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-does-your-heart-beat-per-year/123873/1 "2002-08-14T17:32:38Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_088a.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_088a.html) My only question: Why does Slug’s cartoon feature a rooster drinking a martini? I fear that I am not yet so great in wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-does-your-heart-beat-per-year/123873/2 "2002-08-15T02:02:38Z")
[goes to sit with Toadspittle in the Unenlightened Ones’ Corner] Me, too. We both await enlightenment… Hey, TS, got any chips? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-does-your-heart-beat-per-year/123873/3 "2002-08-15T02:18:50Z")
There’s only 240 words in the question and answer instead of the usual 600 or so. I’m guessing the picture might go with another q&a that appeared alongside the heartbeat q&a on Feb. 6, 1976. On the other hand, it could go with this question, in which case I can only say it’s never wise to probe too deeply into Slug’s thought processes. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-does-your-heart-beat-per-year/123873/4 "2002-08-15T02:40:41Z")
I bet that this originally appeared in a column where the main question and answer were about “Why are cocktails called cocktails?” Think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-does-your-heart-beat-per-year/123873/5 "2002-08-15T06:06:52Z")
Well, there is such a column, but Cecil didn’t write it: [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcocktail.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcocktail.html) If Cecil did write about that, it ain’t in the archives. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-does-your-heart-beat-per-year/123873/6 "2002-08-17T09:50:28Z")
This is just my WAG. 1. The Master has already answered a question regarding hearts, chickens, and alcoholic beverages: **"Does Budweiser beer contain … chicken hearts?"** [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_356b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_356b.html) (This column was also in **“The Straight Dope”, pp 356-8** , with a wonderful Slug chicken-heart-beer illustration that seems to be missing from the online archive). 2. Although Cecil’s reply to the question suggests a negative, Slug may have inferred the chicken/heart/beer connection. 3. Thus, when the question is asked: **How many heartbeats does the average person have in one year?** (which is the wording of the actual question in the OP link, **How many times does your heart beat per year?** being the column title), Slug may have answered as though channeling a chicken: a) Beer contains chicken hearts. b) THUS, if I wish to have “more heartbeats” I should go to my local fowl-friendly tavern and knock back a few. c) This being a chicken, and in a Slug illustration to boot, one should not quibble that the glass used resembles a martini or wine glass rather than a customary vessel for beer. G\*d, I hope I’m not right. I **hate** to think that my mind works like an alcoholic chicken’s. Antonius Block P.S. Or even worse, like Slug’s…