# What We Know About Cecil **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 29, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396 "2002-07-29T17:19:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/41 "2003-09-23T12:14:53Z")
From the [trademarks website](http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=r0ggb1.1.1) search… > [@](#): > > ## Typed Drawing > > Word Mark CECIL ADAMS > Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 016. US 038. G & S: NEWSPAPER COLUMN. FIRST USE: 19730202. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19730202 > Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING > Serial Number 73631921 > Filing Date November 24, 1986 > Owner (APPLICANT) CHICAGO READER, INCORPORATED CORPORATION ILLINOIS P.O. BOX 11101, FORT DEARBORN STATION CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60611 > Attorney of Record RICHARD H. COMPERE > Type of Mark TRADEMARK > Register PRINCIPAL-2(F) > Other Data CECIL ADAMS DOES NOT IDENTIFY ANY PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL BUT WAS DEVISED AS A FANCIFUL NAME > **Live/Dead Indicator DEAD** > Abandonment Date March 29, 1989 Dead? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/42 "2003-09-23T12:16:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\*:mad: :mad: :mad: **YOU SHUT UP!!! YOU SHUT UP WITH YOUR FILTHY WHORE LIES!!!** \*\* Are you _ambushing_ poor old **schplebordnik**?? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lovelyluka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f475e1/32.png) [@lovelyluka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelyluka)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/43 "2003-09-23T13:25:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by schplebordnik \* > **"Cecil" is not a person, but a trademark of the Chicago Reader. There has been more than one “Cecil.” [snip]** I… I’m speechless. Somehow, reading the SD will never be the same. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/44 "2003-09-23T13:41:50Z")
Oh dear. This is bad. Santa, tooth fairy, Easter Bunny. . . Cecil? ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/45 "2003-09-23T13:44:45Z")
Honey, don’t believe everything you read on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/46 "2003-09-23T14:06:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*Cecil is a sad judge of baseball teams…being a White Sox fan. \*\* [His post in this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=202020&perpage=40&highlight=cecil&pagenumber=2) made me think he was a Cubs fan, else why watch them? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/47 "2003-09-23T14:26:18Z")
I prefer **Wolfian** ’s take on this, that of the “Dread Pirate Cecil”. I.e., yes, the _is_ a “Cecil Adams”, although today’s Cecil isn’t the only Cecil that’s ever been. As one Cecil retires the next Dread Pirate Cecil takes his place, always striking Terror into the bowels of the Ignorant. Sure, _we_ know the truth, but we’ll always keep up appearances to keep the unwashed masses on the path of Knowledge. At least until they reach Enlightenment which, as has been stated elsewhere, is taking a lot longer than originally thought! ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/48 "2003-09-23T14:36:45Z")
Yes, Virginia, there is a Cecil. Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see in legal briefs. They think that nothing can be which is not proven through cites. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little, except for Cecil’s. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Not believe in Cecil! You might as well believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the arguments on SDMB to catch Cecil, but even if you did not see Cecil flaming the ignorant, what would that prove? Nobody sees Cecil, but that is no sign that there is no Cecil. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but someone will still write a GD attempting to prove that they are there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world, but with Cecil we can safely dismiss that which we cannot prove. Except for his own existence, of course. No Cecil! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of logicians. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/49 "2003-09-23T18:18:26Z")
(sniff, sniff) Oh, how could I ever have doubted? I believe, _I believe!_ Wait a minute … my name’s not **Virginia**! ---
**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:** [September 23, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/50 "2003-09-23T19:24:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aasna \* > \*\*From the [trademarks website](http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=r0ggb1.1.1) search… > > Dead? :eek: \*\* Just another way of saying the tradmark is expired/abandoned. ---
**Author:** ![cletus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@cletus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cletus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/51 "2003-09-24T06:42:44Z")
Go to [http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm](http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm) and then search for 73631921 (serial number) I’ve decided to ask Cecil himself. I’ll post the reply if I get one. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/52 "2003-09-24T13:08:12Z")
He’s well endowed. Or so he claims.:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/53 "2003-09-24T13:57:01Z")
cite? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/54 "2003-09-24T14:12:33Z")
I can’t find it in the archive, **Ruby** , so we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way: Adams, Cecil, _More of the Straight Dope_, New York: Ballantine Books, 1988, 220-221. BTW: From the introduction of this book, it looks like Mrs. Adams’s first name may be Mary. ---
**Author:** ![Stage\_Manager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stage_manager/32/7267_2.png) [@Stage\_Manager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stage_Manager)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/55 "2003-09-24T15:11:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ponder Stibbons \* > \*\*I prefer **Wolfian** ’s take on this, that of the “Dread Pirate Cecil”. I.e., yes, the _is_ a “Cecil Adams”, although today’s Cecil isn’t the only Cecil that’s ever been. As one Cecil retires the next Dread Pirate Cecil takes his place, always striking Terror into the bowels of the Ignorant. Sure, _we_ know the truth, but we’ll always keep up appearances to keep the unwashed masses on the path of Knowledge. At least until they reach Enlightenment which, as has been stated elsewhere, is taking a lot longer than originally thought! \*\* So… What you’re saying is that Cecil is just like Betty Crocker? I wonder what his cupcakes taste like… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/56 "2003-09-25T02:12:39Z")
Propably adequate to the taste buds and fairly logical. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/57 "2003-09-25T03:29:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by D18 \* > \*\*I can’t find it in the archive, **Ruby** , so we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way: > > Adams, Cecil, _More of the Straight Dope_, New York: Ballantine Books, 1988, 220-221. > > BTW: From the introduction of this book, it looks like Mrs. Adams’s first name may be Mary. \*\* Well dayam. I was hoping for photos. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/58 "2003-09-25T03:59:12Z")
We know that Cecil isn’t Batman. ([cite](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001842/)) ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/59 "2003-09-25T05:14:01Z")
The only fitting reply here is a quote from my spiritual adviser, the Right Reverend Billy C. Wirtz, pastor of The First House of Polyester Worship. . . “Oh ye of little faith . . . and questionable personal hygiene.” your humble TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![cletus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@cletus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cletus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/60 "2003-09-25T05:25:44Z")
From my email: > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > I’ve enjoyed Cecil Adams’ writing for many years. Yet, > > in all those years, the idea that he might not be real > > had never occured to me. Recently I stumbled across a > > few sites which have planted the doubt in my mind. > > > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212900&pagenumber=1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212900&pagenumber=1) > > (specifically, the post by Marley23) > > > > [http://www.ipass.net/whitetho/edcecil.htm](http://www.ipass.net/whitetho/edcecil.htm) > > > > [Trademarks | USPTO](http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm) > > and then search for 73631921 (serial number) > > > > I decided the best way to find out the truth was to > > get the straightdope from the man himself. > > > > So, Cecil Adams, are you a real person? > > I can state unequivocally and without any hesitation whatsoever, that Cecil Adams is a real person. > > He enjoys the mystery about himself, gets a real kick out of it, and so lets it float. He also has this bizarre notion that if he allowed photos and publicity, he wouldn’t have any privacy – that every time he went to the grocery store, he’d be swamped by fans who would tear his clothing off. OK, so he’s eccentric. > > CK Dexter Haven > Straight Dope Staff **Dex** , thanks for such a prompt reply! 😃 PS I think Cecil Adams could kick someone in the nuts ten times better then Batman ever could. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396.md?page=4)