# I found a small page on Cecil **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 18, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207 "2006-04-18T19:57:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_14yr\_old\_Prodigy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_14yr\_old\_Prodigy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_14yr_old_Prodigy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/1 "2006-04-18T19:57:19Z")
Born: ? Gender: Male Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Columnist Nationality: United States Executive summary: Know-it-all behind The Straight Dope Cecil Adams is the author of “The Straight Dope,” a clever, quippy, and always accurate weekly newspaper column he has been writing since 1973. The concept is straightforward: Readers ask trivia questions – Why are there 24 hours in a day? How do porcupines have sex? What does the ‘H’ stand for in Jesus H. Christ? – and Adams provides well-researched and impeccably accurate answers, with occasional smart-ass asides. There’s only one question Adams won’t answer: Who is Cecil Adams? Or rather, he will answer, but only to explain that Adams is the world’s most intelligent human being, who knows everything and is never wrong. Whether Adams is the author’s real name or a non de plume is known only by the author and the Chicago Reader, which publishes the column and pays the author with checks made payable to… someone. Adams’ longtime editor at the Reader is one Ed Zotti, and when Zotti’s photo accompanied a profile of Adams in American Libraries magazine, there was speculation that Zotti might be Adams or vice versa. Zotti, however, joined the Reader after Adams had already been writing the column for several years, and Adams remains adamant that the author “has never been photographed.” A short-lived television version of The Straight Dope appeared on A&E cable in 1996, hosted by comedian Mike Lucas, who is also presumably not Adams. “Straight Dope” columns have been compiled into several books, with imaginative titles such as The Straight Dope, More of the Straight Dope, Return of the Straight Dope, The Straight Dope Tells All, etc. Adams’ motto is “Fighting ignorance since 1973 (it’s taking longer than we thought).” :smack: sorry cecil i had to tell people about ur legacy ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/2 "2006-04-18T20:20:45Z")
You’re hardly the first person to post this sort of thing, dude. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/3 "2006-04-18T20:33:23Z")
> [@The 14yr old Prodigy](#): > > sorry cecil i had to tell people about ur legacy [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030110.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030110.html) ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/4 "2006-04-19T12:10:47Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030110.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030110.html) Why that column, Unlce? ---
**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:** [April 19, 2006, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/5 "2006-04-19T12:19:23Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Why that column, Unlce? I think it may have been the “ur” and the lack of punctuation and capitalization in the quoted sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/6 "2006-04-19T13:16:25Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I think it may have been the “ur” and the lack of punctuation and capitalization in the quoted sentence. Ahh, 14. When a young man may still yet turn out to be a cool geek or an annoying dweeb. We may welcome this cub and raise him as one of our own, or we may shun him and assure his future dweebiness. Come, **Prodigy**. Peruse GQ, but I warn you: do not post until you have something valuable (or funny) to offer and you understand the spoken and unspoken social norms. You may be a big smart guy around school, but there are plenty around this place who will eat you alive without a second thought. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/7 "2006-04-19T13:35:49Z")
> [@Mathochist](#): > > You may be a big smart guy around school, but there are plenty around this place who will eat you alive without a second thought. And a side of placenta. 🆒 ---
**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:** [April 19, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/8 "2006-04-19T13:58:45Z")
> [@Mathochist](#): > > Ahh, 14. When a young man may still yet turn out to be a cool geek or an annoying dweeb. We may welcome this cub and raise him as one of our own, or we may shun him and assure his future dweebiness. > > Come, **Prodigy**. Peruse GQ, but I warn you: do not post until you have something valuable (or funny) to offer and you understand the spoken and unspoken social norms. You may be a big smart guy around school, but there are plenty around this place who will eat you alive without a second thought. I have no desire to assure his future dweebiness, and I second the welcome, but given that his profile says: > [@](#): > > Hi im 14 and study at oxford univercity I doubt if he’s a big smart guy around that school. ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/9 "2006-04-19T14:30:42Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I doubt if he’s a big smart guy around that school. Oh, one of _those_. We’ve got our work cut out for ourselves, boys (and girls). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/10 "2006-04-19T15:14:43Z")
“Hi im 14 and study at oxford univercity” He’s not majoring in English I imagine. I’m counting seven errors at least, even disregarding the probable accuracy of the statement. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/11 "2006-04-19T15:58:47Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > “Hi im 14 and study at oxford univercity” > > He’s not majoring in English I imagine. Well, you know, in England they have their own spellings for a bunch of words. A hourse of a diffrent colour, you see. Maybe he has a licence to go to univercity. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/12 "2006-04-19T16:02:21Z")
I studied at Johns Hopkins University when I was sixteen. Of course, I wasn’t a student there, I was in high school. But JHU has several nice libraries, and I lived fairly close. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/13 "2006-04-19T17:07:55Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > “Hi im 14 and study at oxford univercity” > > He’s not majoring in English I imagine. I’m counting seven errors at least, even disregarding the probable accuracy of the statement. He’s an engineer. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/14 "2006-04-19T17:18:19Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > He’s an engineer. As an Ex-engineering Student, I resemble that remark. Welcome **The 14yr old Prodigy** to the SDMB. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/15 "2006-04-19T17:23:45Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I studied at Johns Hopkins University when I was sixteen. Of course, I wasn’t a student there, I was in high school. But JHU has several nice libraries, and I lived fairly close. I studied at UCSD at 14, too. I guess I’m some kind of prodigy. The difference was, I had a good grasp of the English language. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/16 "2006-04-19T17:56:39Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > He’s an engineer. I’m a software engineer, and I can say quite definitely that being able to write coherently is an important trait for anyone who hopes not to have to be the only person who can ever edit the code he wrote. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/17 "2006-04-19T18:11:06Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > I’m a software engineer, and I can say quite definitely that being able to write coherently is an important trait for anyone who hopes not to have to be the only person who can ever edit the code he wrote. It is a common joke that Engineering Students (as in EE, ME and IE) cannot write well. The joke is/was somewhat factual to the point that Engineering Students were required\* to take Compositional writing classes as one of their Electives. As a lowly computer programmer, I find much internal Program documentation to be very poorly written. So while I agree with you, I don’t often see it in practice. Jim - At least at Rutgers, NJIT, College of NJ and Brookdale Community. I think Stockton and Stevens also. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/18 "2006-04-19T19:27:36Z")
My, my, aren’t we all a wee bit touchy today? 😛 ---
**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:** [April 19, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/19 "2006-04-19T20:29:47Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > My, my, aren’t we all a wee bit touchy today? 😛 I thought so too. My job title is Software Engineer(I know, I know, not a real engineer, but it impresses the hell out of my mother), and I thought it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207/20 "2006-04-20T01:15:43Z")
I’m confused. What does the OP have to be sorry about. We all _knew_ all that already. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-small-page-on-cecil/353207.md?page=2)