could anyone explaine ?
- i see it have sxisted since 1973, but when was this message board created?
Well, it’s the name of a column by Cecil Adams, the world’s smartest human being, who answers various questions from readers. That’s what started in 1973.
The term “Straight Dope” means “the true story.” I believe it originated as a racetrack phrase, probably in the 40s or earlier.
The SDMB dates from 1999, though there was a similar board on AOL previous to that.
As a general term, the “straight dope” implies a story scrubbed free of bias, legend and speculation. It’s unadulterated fact, something you can count on… could take to the bank.
The irony of this all boggles my simple mind 
(And I never had the $3 million I didn’t have, either)
Just how did you end up a member here, anyway?
The Online Etymology Dictionary says of straight, “Sense of ‘undiluted, uncompromising’ (e.g. straight whiskey, 1874) is Amer.Eng., first recorded 1856.” Their entry for dope includes " […] sense of ‘inside information’ (1901) may come from knowing before the race which horse had been drugged to influence performance." So when was the compound “Straight Dope” first used in print, I wonder? My dad used to call the same concept “the hot skinny,” which is WWII-era slang.
Why in 1973 of course. With the help of Al Gore we created an enormous manual message board consisting of several million abacus tied together with wishes and shoestrings. Poor TubaDiva was run ragged having to sprint from abacus to abacus attempting to keep everything together, the poor thing. I hear she still doesn’t like to discuss it…….
thanks for the answers