I mean, suppose he’s eaten by a manitee tomorrow? Or suppose he learns he’s got Huntington’s disease (boy, there’s no way to make that disease funny, not that I’m gonna try)? With no Straight Dope, would there be a Straight Dope Message Board?
Sheesh. Bummer, man. What a topic.
Well, Cecil better stay alive and healthy indefinitely. Because if he doesn’t, this message board would be at risk (maybe) and after all, that should be his Number 1 priority. His own personal life, hopes, dreams, aspirations, family, friends…all that pales in comparison to his obligation to this message board.
</sarcasm off>
What a depressing thing to think about. I will try not to think about it any more, thank you very much! Bummer bummer.
Cecil’s alive? Hmm…a living trademark! 
-Sam
Um, this may sound corny but, I think we are The Straight Dope. Through us, the Great One would live on.
Bite your tongue, Varlos7. Unca Cecil dead? Perish the thought.
I think baglady would need to make up a new batch of buttons!
And I’m sure ChiefScott would use Cecil’s smiley…
I, as Cecil’s evil twin (who knows nothing), would probably take up the slack in his stead. It will be difficult… but somehow… somehow… I will have to find the strength and the resolve to inherit my good twin’s position, reputation, intelligence, and charisma (not the mention the billions he keeps hidden up at Cecil Manor).
Well, “Cecil Adams” is obviously a pen name, and if the person who used that name died, then the Chicago Reader would just hire someone else to write The Straight Dope using that name. Hell, we could be on the 4th or 5th Cecil now, for all we know!
sp correction= manatee and their herbivores.
One would have to roll over on Cecil and squish him.
Cecil Adams is not a real person. He is simply a name that the people from the Chicago reader made up to use for their “Straigth Dope” column. “Cecil Adams” is a team of people working to find answers to readers questions.
Aren’t we forgetting the obvious?
Cecil is pure intellect and has no corporeal body to become incapacitated or die.
Anyone who knows everything should know how
to live forever.
manatee, and they’re herbivores.
Geez i’m an idiot. And yes i know cecil is fictional.
Now that we have decided that Cecil is a “montage” of collaborations by journalists, I think the question should be this:
What will happen to SDMB if the Chicago Reader folds?
geez, now I have a question for Cecil…
Are you real like Santa Claus or just a figment of a bunch of writer’s imagination?
Don’t you people know that he’s just a brain in a jar? Sheesh.
Oh, brother.
Look, it already happened in 1989. Search for the trademark.
I did post it here this year.
What you see today is what would happen as it already occured in 89. nuff said & well said, handy.