# Real Identity Of Cecil Adams **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147 "2010-02-16T02:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/1 "2010-02-16T02:25:07Z")
Who do you think Cecil Adams’ real identity is? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/2 "2010-02-16T02:25:43Z")
Batman. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/3 "2010-02-16T02:27:10Z")
I’ll go with “An obnoxious fictional character made nearly obsolete by the amount of information now available at your fingertips courtesy of the internet.” ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/4 "2010-02-16T02:37:56Z")
Me. I think I’m Cecil Adams. Nevermind that I was born in 1990. I’m still him. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/5 "2010-02-16T02:40:09Z")
No, I am Cecil Adams! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/6 "2010-02-16T02:41:43Z")
I’m Cecil Adams, and so is my wife! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/7 "2010-02-16T02:56:17Z")
I thought Cecil Adams was… you know, Cecil Adams. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/8 "2010-02-16T03:44:52Z")
Grizzly Adams’ sensitive new-age Pointdexterish cousin. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/9 "2010-02-16T05:12:37Z")
A little Cecil exists in everyone at the Chicago Reader. You might say they all made up Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/10 "2010-02-16T05:16:25Z")
It’s been Zotti for quite a while but there were a couple of other Cecils in the early years. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/11 "2010-02-16T05:53:09Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > I’ll go with “An obnoxious fictional character made nearly obsolete by the amount of information now available at your fingertips courtesy of the internet.” I’ll mostly sign on to this description, although I’d probably slightly weaken the “obnoxious” part. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/12 "2010-02-16T06:18:14Z")
I will respond to this as I would if one of my friends had asked the question. “YOUR MOM is Cecil Adams!” ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/13 "2010-02-16T06:23:00Z")
Appreciate the mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/14 "2010-02-16T12:55:38Z")
The sad fact of the matter is that Cecil Adams was actually a psuedonym used by J. D. Salinger so he could continue writing undiscovered. He did leave a substantial backlog of unpublished columns but once those are released, there will be no more. And no more Thomas Pynchon novels either. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/15 "2010-02-16T13:13:28Z")
He’s a righteous dude, a Chicago son. There… I believe that narrows things down appreciably. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/16 "2010-02-16T13:14:08Z")
Can Cecil Adams come up with a question so obscure that even he cannot fight ignorance about it? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/17 "2010-02-16T13:43:14Z")
Adams is Zotti, or Zotti is a plagiarist (a book published under Zotti’s name took large portions of Cecil’s columns). ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/18 "2010-02-16T13:47:11Z")
I think there have been more than one Cecil Adams over the years. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/19 "2010-02-16T13:49:50Z")
Cecil Adams is whoever they can get to fit into the suit. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147/20 "2010-02-16T14:03:33Z")
Cecil Adams is a former neighbor’s brother-in-law. True story. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-identity-of-cecil-adams/529147.md?page=2)