# Question Please-What does Straight Dope Mean?\[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750 "2010-05-08T16:29:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/41 "2010-05-10T04:44:21Z")
Of course not, French has a whole bunch of words of English origin. Americans seem to believe this (and usually mention the French Academy when they talk about it) but it just isn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/42 "2010-05-10T17:17:43Z")
The French Academy tries to keep the language “pure”, but a language is a living thing and a wild one, not easily tamed or restrained. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/43 "2010-05-10T17:57:45Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Eh, the Battle of Trenton happened the day _after_ Christmas. The British were not celebrating Christmas Mass at the time. It was actually Germans (Hessians) that Washington captured at Trenton. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/44 "2010-05-10T20:10:41Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > The word “doping” is also used to describe changing the chemical composition of glass with other compounds. Or really the cemical composition of anything, such as a runner’s blood. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/45 "2010-05-11T20:39:04Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > “English doesn’t _borrow_ words from foreign languages. It follows those languages into dark alleys, knocks them out with a club, and riffles through their pockets.” I believe the original quote (from James D. Nicoll) is as follows: “The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.” ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/46 "2010-05-11T20:58:25Z")
A variant I’ve seen refers to going through the other language’s pockets looking for loose grammar. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/47 "2010-05-11T21:02:40Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > It was actually Germans (Hessians) that Washington captured at Trenton. Everyone knows that. Although they were Germans, and mercenaries, they were British troops so long as they kept cashing the checks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/48 "2010-05-11T21:09:20Z")
\*\*Re: Yom Kippur War. \*\* FWIW, in Swedish it’s “The October War” (_Oktoberkriget_), but if you click the language links in Wikipedia, which redirects you to the article in other languages, you’ll see that “Yom Kippur War” seems to be fairly international, nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/49 "2010-05-11T21:17:26Z")
Speaking of the many slang uses of “dope,” it is also archaic slang for a soda pop. (As in: “If you’re going to the store, bring me back a Co-Cola dope!”) Soda shops were once referred to (in slang) as “dope shops.” [Cite.](http://dukestores.duke.edu/about/history.php) /hijack ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/50 "2010-05-11T21:20:35Z")
Most of the usages of “dope” make it synonymous with “stuff”. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/51 "2010-05-11T21:35:12Z")
Can’t believe no one’s posted [this cite](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dope) on the dope-front, yet. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/52 "2010-05-11T21:52:49Z")
..and come to think of it, posting the text would be the polite thing to do ;). [QUOTE=Online Etymology Dictionary] 1807, Amer.Eng., “sauce, gravy,” from Du. doop “thick dipping sauce.” Extension to “drug” is 1889, from practice of smoking semi-liquid opium preparation. Meaning “foolish, stupid person” is older (1851) and may have a sense of “thick-headed.” Sense of “inside information” (1901) may come from knowing before the race which horse had been drugged to influence performance. Related: Doped; doping. Dope-fiend is attested from 1896. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/53 "2010-05-11T22:21:34Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > The word “doping” is also used to describe changing the chemical composition of glass with other compounds. Also used to describe drugging racehorses. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/54 "2010-05-11T22:35:36Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Also used to describe drugging racehorses. And the organization fighting outside-the-rules\* drug use in sport is actually called (in English) [The World Anti-Doping Agency](http://www.wada-ama.org/). In French, it’s the _Agence mondiale antidopage_. So you see, this sense of the English word ‘dope’ has made it into other languages. [sub]\*I say “outside-the-rules” rather than “illegal” because I believe that many of the drugs they test for are legal, but just aren’t allowed according to the rules of the particular sport.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/55 "2010-05-12T00:54:17Z")
> [@Rich-Lazy-Guy](#): > > We know the name but we do not use it, as we call October war. > Yom is a Semitic word means Day the word is used in Arabic and Hebrew. > > Kippor is a Hebrew word means I think forgiveness and it is a feast according to the Hebrew calender. > > The reason I am asking why you are using foreign words not English word. This post makes it sound that you are not aware that Yom Kippur is the name of the most holy of Jewish Holy Days, The Day of Atonement, not a feast (actually a fasting day spent almost completely in prayer by the even nominally observant). This is a case not of using a foreign word (which as noted is the norm in English more than the exception) but of using the _name_ of the date. Most of the world, including the parts less than supportive of Israel’s politics (such as in [this Pravda article](http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/366/16729_Sharon.html)) call it the Yom Kippur War. The reason is straightforward, the fact that it was a surprise attack on the holiest day in the Jewish calender is the most notable part of the date of the war, not that it was in October, or during Ramadan, or even that it was the fourth war or in 1973. Naming it something other than what most of the rest of the world calls it is an explicitly political act, and an understandable one for the Egyptian powers that be to make, but that divergence from the bulk of the rest of the world is the bit that is deserving of explanation, not calling it by the name of the date that motivated the timing of the attack. FWIW my impression is that there are a solid number of posters here who are of a Jewish background even if many of them are completely secular and/or atheists. I suspect a bit more than the general American population but still a distinct minority. And views that are strongly anti-Israel and even some that are suspicious of Jews in general are also well represented. The board’s namesake is “The Straight Dope”, which is as explained, the inside scoop, the true information, named after a column that began in 1973, but some answers do not have one answer that can be recognized as truth. In those cases debate (hopefully honest and respectful debate) by those with divergent POV’s, is the best means we have to figure out for ourselves what we believe truth to be. Welcome. Whatever your perspectives and beliefs you are bound to find some here who will agree with you and those who will challenge you. If you stick around and participate you may influence some minds or be so influenced but the process is sure to inform you (and others) in either case. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750/56 "2010-05-14T04:43:27Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > isn’t it illegal for them to take on English words? 😃 Very well played. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-please-what-does-straight-dope-mean-edited-title/538750.md?page=2)