# What makes a column classic?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [March 1, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047 "2011-03-01T08:07:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047/1 "2011-03-01T08:07:51Z")
I am curious.
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### Author:  [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2011, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047/2 "2011-03-01T08:24:11Z")
It hasn’t been published before. All the classic columns you see are from the archives.
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### Author:  [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2011, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047/3 "2011-03-01T08:40:08Z")
Published where? I thought all these were originally published in CL newspapers!
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### Author:  [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047/4 "2011-03-01T11:38:39Z")
> [@indian](#):
>
> Published where? I thought all these were originally published in CL newspapers!
I believe that they are simultaneously published in the papers and on the straight dope website, that is to say the ones that aren’t classics.
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### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047/5 "2011-03-01T12:52:54Z")
It’s pretty clear what makes a classic.
The last six questions have been about sex or genitals. :dubious:
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### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047/6 "2011-03-01T12:54:27Z")
In ye Olden Times, the column was published each week in the Chicago READER and other alternative newspapers, and that was it. Then many were gathered together and published in the first books. When we started the website, the most recent column was also posted here. We wanted something new each day, to attract people to come back, so the older columns were posted as “classic.” So, basically, a classic column is an older column that hasn’t been on the website before.
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### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047/7 "2011-03-01T17:32:09Z")
> [@Mijin](#):
>
> It’s pretty clear what makes a classic.
>
> The last six questions have been about sex or genitals. :dubious:
Ah, and I see the latest question is now about passionate kissing.
At least we’ve moved from the genitals…
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047/8 "2011-03-01T18:46:08Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#):
>
> So, basically, a classic column is an older column that **hasn’t been on the website before.**
I didn’t know the part I bolded. I could have sworn I’d seen some of them before while archive binging.
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### Author:  [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047/9 "2011-03-01T20:07:29Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#):
>
> So, basically, a classic column is an older column that hasn’t been on the website before.
Except we’re on repeats, so this isn’t true. A classic column is just a column that isn’t the new column this week. The new column is posted on Friday, so classic columns are Cecil columns on other days.
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### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-column-classic/573047/10 "2011-03-02T12:42:28Z")
Sorry, I didn’t realize we were doing repeats, my bad.
The classics are basically taken from the books, pretty much in order. The books are sorted by some semblence of topic, and so we get a string on sex, or a string on showbiz, or whatever.