# Post-facto Editing of Cecil's Columns **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 18, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448 "2008-08-18T17:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/1 "2008-08-18T17:34:00Z")
Every once in a while I read a column that has been changed from the first time I read it, like [today’s](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_183.html). The changes are usually cosmetic - changing a joke, removing some more of the more hostile responses, etc - but the fact they are being touched at all has me wondering. Is this a standard practice? Do the facts ever get changed? ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/2 "2008-08-18T17:41:36Z")
For example, when you read this thread 10 years from now, the title will read “Post-facto Editing of Cecil’s Columns”. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/3 "2008-08-18T18:29:30Z")
What changes are you noticing? Personally, I was living in a Straight Dope vacuum in 1995, and I haven’t had my hands on a book since about 1992. I do recall reading some columns in the first couple of books, in which Cecil admits to having made personal appearances on radio call-in shows. These days, when such an article is found in the archives, he will claim that Little Ed was there representing him. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/4 "2008-08-18T21:11:10Z")
I don’t have my books handy so I can’t show a specific example, maybe I will be able to tonight. Like I say, the changes are generally cosmetic, I was just curious why they would get changed at all. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/5 "2008-08-18T21:30:09Z")
I’ve noticed changes, like the last line in [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_078b.html) which used to read “I bet that babe was a riot on dates”, but I have to confess to not finding a change in the column you linked to. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/6 "2008-08-18T22:49:26Z")
I’m pretty sure the line “you’re expecting them to tell your folks to come take you home from summer camp” was not in the original ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/7 "2008-08-18T23:48:35Z")
[QUOTE=HoboStew] I’m pretty sure the line “you’re expecting them to tell your folks to come take you home from summer camp” was not in the original [/QUOTE] That line is in the original, at least it’s in the book _Triumph of the Straight Dope_ which was publiished in 1999. So, yeah, I think it was there. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/8 "2008-08-20T13:02:59Z")
The 1948 column predicting Dewey’s victory has been, like, _totally_ rewritten. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/9 "2008-08-20T17:52:20Z")
We’ve been through a lot of changes over these years, doncha know. All the columns were/are originally published in the _Chicago Reader_ in dead tree format. Some of the columns were published in the five Straight Dope books and in so doing may have been edited or updated on publication in the books. Starting in mid-1996 and ending in early 1999 most of the old columns (and all the new ones in that time) were published in the _Reader_ and published on AOL. Some of the columns may have been edited to reflect AOL’s Terms of Service; some may have been updated. Since 1999 most of the old columns (and all the new ones) have been published in the _Reader_ and published on the Straight Dope website. The versions that made it to the website may reflect all the changes/edits/updates listed above. No, we didn’t keep track. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/10 "2008-08-20T19:18:44Z")
[QUOTE=HoboStew] Do the facts ever get changed? [/QUOTE] The column on **ahem** gerbil stuffing, as originally published in the Reader, concluded that This Really Happens. When published in one of the Straight Dope books, the conclusion was changed to Sorry, We Were Wrong, It’s A Hoax. This was clearly stated in the book, so it’s not like anyone was trying to get away with re-writing history, but it’s as close to an edited Straight Dope column “changing the facts” that I’m aware of. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-facto-editing-of-cecils-columns/460448/11 "2008-08-20T22:38:06Z")
Got it. Thanks Tuba et al.