# What is the Straight Dope like? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239 "2008-09-12T06:38:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/21 "2008-09-12T14:16:26Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > The Straight Dope is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come. To keep me warm, or nibble at my exposed extremeties? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/22 "2008-09-12T14:31:26Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > To keep me warm, or nibble at my exposed extremeties? Depends, are you in MPSIMS or the Pit? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/23 "2008-09-12T14:34:21Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Depends, are you in MPSIMS or the Pit? I thought I was freezing my nuts off in the tundra? Now are those weasels gonna help me, or eat me? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/24 "2008-09-12T16:30:15Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > I thought I was freezing my nuts off in the tundra? Now are those weasels gonna help me, or eat me? Were I you, I’d avoid splashing steak sauce on myself. ---
**Author:** ![MTRG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@MTRG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTRG)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/25 "2008-09-12T19:37:15Z")
Its like a bright light; beautiful and dangerous. I want to go toward it, knowing that I will learn all of the answers. But, at the same, I know that I have to resist. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/26 "2008-09-12T19:42:42Z")
A dinner party that’s fun and full of smart, witty people – but then the waitress arrives and a few of them hit on her awkwardly, some make nasty remarks about her looks and everyone fights over the tip. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/27 "2008-09-12T19:46:03Z")
A cross between a Turkish prison and the Chicago Commodities Exchange. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/28 "2008-09-12T20:18:58Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I gave up on that thread somewhere around page 9 (did it get amusing again?), so I apologize if this has been oft’ repeated already. But of all the many analogies used to describe the Dope, I think the most accurate is the corner bar, or, probably even more accurately, a real pub. You go in, you see if there’s anyone there you know, or you can walk through the tables and eavesdrop on conversations until you feel like joining a conversation. We’ve got bouncers (mods) for the people who get out of hand, and someone’s usually in one corner crying into a beer over a breakup while other people stand around patting him/her on the back. There’s a game on in the other room, and people are arguing politics in the back. There’s always someone shouting about how much this place sucks and the beer sucks and the bartenders suck and he’s never coming back, and we all go, “uh-huh” and know we’ll see him again before the weekend’s out. There’s a wall of photos, and every so often we reminice about people who used to come here but don’t anymore, and constant whining that the place isn’t like it used to be before the neighborhood went to the dogs. > > I like to think of it as Callahan’s Place, only weirder. **Argent** ’s post is my cite. Yes! Once again I find that **WhyNot** has save me from having to type out a long and confused explanation about how I feel. She did a much better job than I could have. The Dope is a Corner Tavern to me were the regulars are great and odd and interesting people are always dropping by and now we even have a very nice lounge for games to make it better. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/29 "2008-09-12T21:50:41Z")
My husband says it’s like chocolate pudding. He’s been working too much. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/30 "2008-09-12T22:01:25Z")
The Straight Dope is like the Crystal Skull, tucked inside the Lost Ark, along with the Grail, & the whole thing hidden inside…the Death Star.\* With Pie. \*_Temple of Doom_ **sucked!** ---
**Author:** ![Influential\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Influential\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Influential_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/31 "2008-09-12T22:04:17Z")
It’s like a bag of sand ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/32 "2008-09-12T22:17:56Z")
from this > [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The Straight Dope is like a yak, with tangled, matted fur, bones weak with old age and hooves ground to the quick from rocky mountain trails, struggling to climb up a mountain pass while loaded down with fourteen men on its back, holding on for dear life. Every now and then, the yak falters and stumbles, and one of the men falls off of its back and tumbles down the mountain to his exceptionally painful death, but the rest of them hold fast and hope - no, pray - that they will not be met by the same fate. > > The yak soldiers on up the mountainside, valiantly, dutifully, but nonetheless, lives are lost again and again as the passengers’ grip fails and they slide down steep trails lined with rocks sharp as knives, bash their heads open on arêtes and roches moutonnées, break their spines after falling down hundred-foot-deep crevasses, or fry to a crisp in underground thermal vents. And yet - every day - still more unsuspecting souls flag down that old yak for a ride up the mountain, climb aboard, and constantly replenish the ill-fated crew. > > That’s the Straight Dope. This. > [@](#): > > . . . but the rest of them hold fast and hope - no, pray - that they will not be met by the same fate. Actually one-third of them pray while the another third argues about the validity of prayer, the purpose of prayer, the possible evil of prayer, the possible non-existance of the yak, the possible non-existance of the mountain and whether or not the yak was better when they were further down the mountain. The final third are either swapping social advice, swapping puns, or yelling at the falling members to bring pie. The yak is followed by invisible beings called lurkers. They are rumored to be pink. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Batman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@The\_Batman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Batman)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/33 "2008-09-12T22:27:37Z")
The best way I can explain is that the Dope is like what the party in the game of Clue was like before the murder. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/34 "2008-09-13T01:02:34Z")
> [@Tijuana\_Golds](#): > > The best way I can explain is that the Dope is like what the party in the game of Clue was like before the murder. That’s gold, Golds, **gold**! ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/35 "2008-09-13T01:10:19Z")
The Straight Dope is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. … because, like the chump who didn’t see the handy guide distinguishing the strawberry fondants from the hazelnut pralines, you never bothered to read the forum rules. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/36 "2008-09-13T02:58:17Z")
The hot black posters at the Straight Dope are like my coffee. ---
**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/37 "2008-09-13T04:10:00Z")
Dope is a haiku, Beautiful like a spring breeze, But inherently unpredictable, following no rules or structure, with plenty of unexpected twists thrown in. AllWalker Ruining poetry since 2005 ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/38 "2008-09-13T21:34:40Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The Straight Dope is like a yak, with tangled, matted fur, bones weak with old age and hooves ground to the quick from rocky mountain trails, struggling to climb up a mountain pass while loaded down with fourteen men on its back, holding on for dear life. Every now and then, the yak falters and stumbles, and one of the men falls off of its back and tumbles down the mountain to his exceptionally painful death, but the rest of them hold fast and hope - no, pray - that they will not be met by the same fate. > > The yak soldiers on up the mountainside, valiantly, dutifully, but nonetheless, lives are lost again and again as the passengers’ grip fails and they slide down steep trails lined with rocks sharp as knives, bash their heads open on arêtes and roches moutonnées, break their spines after falling down hundred-foot-deep crevasses, or fry to a crisp in underground thermal vents. And yet - every day - still more unsuspecting souls flag down that old yak for a ride up the mountain, climb aboard, and constantly replenish the ill-fated crew. > > That’s the Straight Dope. I can’t help but notice that you seem to really really like yaks. This is easily the fifth time I’ve read something about yaks and looked up to see your username there (one other memorable time involving a post about the imdb and certain anatomical details:eek:). er…thats all I got to say ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/39 "2008-09-13T21:46:01Z")
It’s kind of like a big truck. Well…it’s kind of like a series of tubes. Well, whatever it is, imagine Postmaster Francis Granger sipping at a warm ladle of yak jizz. That’s EXACTLY what it’s like, if you can imagine that. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239/40 "2008-09-13T22:31:11Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > It’s kind of like a big truck. > > Well…it’s kind of like a series of tubes. It’s like a series of truck tubes. What did I win? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-straight-dope-like/463239.md?page=3)