# The Straight Dope

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope/761923
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [August 6, 2016, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope/761923 "2016-08-06T09:14:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2016, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope/761923/1 "2016-08-06T09:14:11Z")

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As a long time reader of Michael Quinnon’s World Wide Words, I was interested to see that this week he devoted most of his newsletter to the origin of the word ‘dope’.

Towards the end, he gets round to expansions and writes this:

> [@](#):
>
> The phrases inside dope, real dope, true dope and straight dope — asserting the undisputed truth — were appearing in print by the early years of the new century:  
> _Referee Bean gave out the following figures and the fight fans who want the straight dope will probably not miss it far by accepting them._  
> The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah), 7 Apr. 1904.

I expected to find that Cecil had already covered the origin of the name, but failed to find it. If you want to read more go here: [World Wide Words: Newsletter: 06 Aug 2016](http://www.worldwidewords.org/nl/pdvi.htm)