# Why is the text 'sdorgi ' semi-hidden in some (all?) of Cecil's archived columns? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 28, 2000, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488 "2000-12-28T07:46:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/1 "2000-12-28T07:46:37Z")
I recently printed a column written by The Master and noticed on the printed version a very light 'sdorgi ’ in the extreme lower left, below the copyright information. Yes, those exact letters, with the space. I ran a search on the text (thanks for the updated engine, y’all) and found a huge amount of columns. In seemingly every case, the text is too light to be seen without highlighting it (or printing it). If this is text used by a crawler, couldn’t you have hidden it in a keyword HTML tag? Is it subliminal? If it is, you have made a mistake: The word ‘orgy’ does not contain an i. Keys might have a few comments on the subject. Have I stumbled upon a clue to a Great Underground Empire? Should Robert Anton Wilson know? Have I dropped enough cultural references here yet? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/2 "2000-12-28T11:06:04Z")
It stands for “Silly Derleth Only Reads these Gratuitous Insinuations”. The extra space is mere cosmetics. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Morrison\_s\_Lament](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Morrison\_s\_Lament](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morrison_s_Lament)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/3 "2000-12-28T11:19:23Z")
Ehh… I sorta figured it was for “Straight Dope Original”. But it’s an interesting question if I’m wrong. It probably has something to do with May 1st, 33rd and the Illuminati, in time all will become clear… — G. Raven ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/4 "2000-12-28T16:07:54Z")
Paul is the only one who’s barefoot, see? ---
**Author:** ![weapons\_grade\_bullonium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@weapons\_grade\_bullonium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weapons_grade_bullonium)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/5 "2000-12-28T16:21:11Z")
Read it upside down! It’s !bjops. Then backward for spojb! Spot On Job! It’s British publisher’s slang for “as good as it’s going to get, so let’s print it and move on” ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/6 "2000-12-28T16:23:18Z")
No official answer yet, but you can read further speculation on the subject in this thread. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=4660](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=4660) ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/7 "2000-12-28T17:06:42Z")
Where does it fnord say fnord “sdorgi”? I don’t fnord see no stinking fnord “sdorgi” fnord fnord fnord. ---
**Author:** ![weapons\_grade\_bullonium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@weapons\_grade\_bullonium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weapons_grade_bullonium)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/8 "2000-12-28T17:18:05Z")
And you’re the editor here? Then I guess explains the confusion however. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/9 "2000-12-29T00:56:08Z")
Clearly, this is the link for moderators and administrators to the information about the time and place for the next Straight Dope Orgy – they use the I to throw people off. It doesn’t link through unless you have moderator or administrator privileges, though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Call\_Me\_Tech-Mex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5a626/32.png) [@Just\_Call\_Me\_Tech-Mex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Call_Me_Tech-Mex)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/10 "2000-12-29T01:47:35Z")
There, see, was that so hard? It goes faster when people aren’t coy about the staff orgy. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/11 "2000-12-29T10:54:54Z")
> [@](#): > > It goes faster when people aren’t coy about the staff orgy. Well, if you saw Ed in a tight leather bra, crotchless panties, and garter belt, you’d be a tad “coy”, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/12 "2000-12-29T13:14:28Z")
To add to the above, most of the columns posted online appear to include some sort of category description at the end of the column, which is intended to be invisible. (The HTML code for the pages has instructions to display the text letters in white, which on a standard white background makes them invisible–the HTML code is: _\sdorgi\_) However, different browsers handle white-on-white text somewhat differently, so in some circumstances the “invisible letters” become visible. For example, in Netscape 6.0, if I choose **Edit/Select All** from the toolbar, this hidden text becomes highlighted. (In contrast, in Opera 5.01 and I.E. 3.0, when you do the same they just display a small retangular box where the hidden text is located.) Different browsers also handle white-on-white printing differently. In Opera 5.01 and I.E. 3.0 the white-on-white HTML instruction is ignored when printing, and **sdorgi** is printed at the end of the column in normal black text. However, Netscape 6.0 doesn’t print these hidden characters, which is a more accurate rendering of the page. It’s interesting to see how Cecil has divided up the various columns. **sdorgi** is obviously the category for columns dealing with “origins”–a loftier meaning than most people here appear to think. The description for [Did an episode of the “Moonlighting” TV show contain a secret coded message?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_447.html) is **sdmyst** , i.e. “mysteries”, while [Are subliminal messages secretly embedded in advertisements?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_344.html) falls under **sdstran** , i.e. “strange”. Since we can use the SDMB search page to list all the columns falling under each description, I wonder if we now have access to a powerful tool for learning more about the wonders of Cecil’s mind. Unfortunately the search results are listed “in no particular order”, but still, with enough study and analysis, it would be theoretically possible to use this information to not only better understand Cecil’s marvelous brain, but also, perhaps, to become more Cecil-like ourselves. (Unless these categories were actually set up by someone else, which unfortunately would then mean that analyzing the categories is no more enlightening than watching someone shuffle cards). ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/13 "2000-12-29T21:29:59Z")
Personally, I’d like to hold to the child-like belief that if Cecil is going to set up any kind of classification scheme, an “orgy” category will feature prominantly. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/14 "2000-12-29T22:12:44Z")
Hey, thanks. Is the listing of codes on the other thread complete? It might be useful if I wanted to find columns in a specific category. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/15 "2000-12-30T21:54:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whitetho \* > Since we can use the SDMB search page to list all the columns falling under each description, I wonder if we now have access to a powerful tool for learning more about the wonders of Cecil’s mind. Unfortunately the search results are listed “in no particular order”, but still, with enough study and analysis, it would be theoretically possible to use this information to not only better understand Cecil’s marvelous brain, but also, perhaps, to become more Cecil-like ourselves. whitetho, I would guess that the person that has come closes to understanding Cecil’s marvelous brain is his editor Ed Zotti, and, judging from his post above, it’s a mind-bending experience indeed! Which is why, Derleth, I would not recommend dealing with these occult mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-text-sdorgi-semi-hidden-in-some-all-of-cecils-archived-columns/47488/16 "2000-12-31T18:33:23Z")
Well, I’d like to thank **Spoofe** for the indelible mental image of Ed in a tight leather bra, crotchless panties, and garter belt. Up till now, I had always visualized him as a sort of benign silver-haired Godfather, but that mental image has forever flown away, to be replaced by Spoofe’s XXX-rated version. Thank you so much. You’ve made my life so much more interesting.