# Why only 19 welcomed by Cecil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 22, 2000, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142 "2000-09-22T15:08:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/1 "2000-09-22T15:08:54Z")
I have seen time and again that there are only **19 posters deemed worthy to be personally welcomed to the board by Cecil Adams**. Why only 19? It’s been a while since the Almighty Cecil popped in here and there are now many new posters who would like a little validation in our empty lives. Hell, lately it seems we’re as likely to see Cecil Adams around here as we are to see Jerry Falwell in a leather jockstrap with a rider’s crop sitting astride Pat Buchanan’s back waving from the front float during the Gay Rights Parade. Would it be so difficult for Cecil to take five minutes out of his busy schedule to open a quick thread, say hi to me and leave? I’ve been here since April and was welcomed by a handful of other posters. I haven’t even had a mod welcome me. _sniffle sniffle_ I submit that 19 is not a good number to leave things on. Cecil should show up, welcome me, and raise it to a nice round 20. I hope no one forces me to take a page from **aha’s** book and resort to something drastic. And for those of you who don’t think I’ll do it, just remember: I’m currently on medications, seeing a therapist, and can snap like a rubber band stretched around Rush Limbaugh’s waist. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/2 "2000-09-22T15:17:34Z")
> [@](#): > > I hope no one forces me to take a page from aha’s book and resort to something drastic. You mean like find a group of guys, form a band, and make a number one hit? (potential hijack- **aha** , you planning to go see “Almost Famous”?) Anyways, if the Master wishes to come down from on high and cast a favorable word upon us Teeming Brethren, I hope he has a kind word or two for me. (Probably “plastics”, but ya never know.) But I’m afraid, Crunchy, that you’re better off waiting for George W. to show up and explain the etymology of “subliminable”. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/3 "2000-09-22T15:26:46Z")
Crunchy, Cecil is a trademark, like Betty Crocker, tell me how you think a trademark can choose things? ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/4 "2000-09-22T15:36:15Z")
I will not be swayed from my quest so easily, **John Corrado**. I am King Arthur and Cecil is the Grail. (Or more accurately, I am Don Quixote and a welcome from Cecil is the windmill.) From now on, every thread I start will have some mention of wishing to be welcomed by Cecil Adams. I will not let this die. It just so happens I am emotionally unstable enough to obsess about this for years. After all, I’m still pissed at Yoko, and I wasn’t even born till '73! ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/5 "2000-09-22T15:40:09Z")
**handy** - I know Cecil is a trademark. Work with me here, ok? ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/6 "2000-09-22T15:49:47Z")
"we’re as likely to see Cecil Adams around here as we are to see Jerry Falwell in a leather jockstrap with a rider’s crop sitting astride Pat Buchanan’s back waving from the front float during the Gay Rights Parade. " I can’t say anything about Cecil but the Falwell/Buchanan thing is looking more and more likely… ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/7 "2000-09-22T15:53:29Z")
\*\*Cecil[b/] is the black truffle, and you are the pig… ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/8 "2000-09-22T17:24:24Z")
Well, if you hurry over to Comments on Cecil’s Columns and look at [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=37435) thread, you might catch him and be able to make it _ **20** _!!! ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/9 "2000-09-22T17:34:24Z")
Thanks **evilbeth**. I have posted a link in that thread and now eagerly await the arrival of the Master. Um . . . I’m still waiting. Ok, waiting sucks. I’m gonna look up some internet porn now. ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/10 "2000-09-22T18:12:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crunchy Frog \* > \*\ ***handy** - I know Cecil is a trademark. Work with me here, ok? \*\* You’ll be telling me next that there’s no Father Christmas… ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/11 "2000-09-22T18:21:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fierra \* > \*\*You’ll be telling me next that there’s no Father Christmas… \*\* We were just playing **fierra**. Of course there’s a Cecil Adams. You can click on **evilbeth’s** link above to see a post from him. How could he post if he were only a trademark? See so that proves there’s a Cecil. Just as my posts prove that crispy amphibians can type. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/12 "2000-09-22T19:12:54Z")
It should also be noted that Billy Joel® is registered (though I don’t know if he’s trademarked). He’s real, despite the legions of music fans who wish he wasn’t, especially since _River of Dreams_. Just because Cecil Adams™, the Sage of Our Age, is trademarked doesn’t make him any less real, either. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/13 "2000-09-22T19:17:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by don Jaime \* > **He’s real, despite the legions of music fans who wish he wasn’t…** Bite your blasphemous tongue, you heretic!! ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/14 "2000-09-22T19:32:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crunchy Frog \* > \*\*I will not be swayed from my quest so easily, **John Corrado**. I am King Arthur and Cecil is the Grail. (Or more accurately, I am Don Quixote and a welcome from Cecil is the windmill.) From now on, every thread I start will have some mention of wishing to be welcomed by Cecil Adams. I will not let this die. > \*\* I think you might have more luck if you were Sir Percival. Wasn’t he the one who actually found the Grail? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/15 "2000-09-22T19:43:33Z")
Oh dear, it seems The Chicago Reader has lit the beacon, which I just remembered, is grail-shaped. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/16 "2000-09-22T19:57:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jack Batty \* > \*\*Oh dear, it seems The Chicago Reader has lit the beacon, which I just remembered, is grail-shaped. \*\* Wicked, bad, naughty Zu–Reader! ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/17 "2000-09-22T20:09:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snooooopy \* > \*\* I think you might have more luck if you were Sir Percival. Wasn’t he the one who actually found the Grail? \*\* [/QUOTE] Dammit!! Stoopid American publik edjucashun system didn’t teech me nuthin’ rite! ---
**Author:** ![Nixon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@Nixon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nixon)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/18 "2000-09-22T20:51:09Z")
Could the employee of the Chicago Reader who has the rights to the character Jolly Green Gi–sorry–Cecil Adams, please send Crunchy Frog a private e-mail welcoming him on the SDMB? Thank you. btw Don Jaime, IIRC, not only is Cecil a trademark but the application with the U.S. Patent Office explicitly notes that it is a fictional character - thus akin to Ronald, Charlie, Peter, Juan, Wendy, Johnny, Mikey, Betty, Speedy, Tony, Skippy, Joe, assorted Aunts and Uncles, numerous Elves, uncountable “talking” animals, too many dead Presidents and the ever-popular Rastus - all designed to personalize impersonal commerce. Just like these other trademarks, the writer(s) of the character Cecil strive to fit the smart-ass, cheeky, know-it-all precedents without becoming either pompous or boring. Week in, week out the Reader handles this fairly well - much depends on the question chosen for discussion. Personally crunch-meister, I would perfer getting into a e-discussion with Ed, CK, or the science board members. (one of the 19 - call me Didymus) ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/19 "2000-09-22T21:06:43Z")
Seeing as it’s already been brought up here that the name Cecil Adams is a trademark, and seeing how it’s been mentioned in other threads already, I don’t see the point people coming in to point it out _again_ in this thread. However, there is an administrator posting under the name Cecil Adams. I take that name as being the _real_ Cecil Adams as seriously as I’m sure you people take my name as meaning I’m really a frog. Just play along, would ya? I’m just trying to have a little fun over here. ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142/20 "2000-09-22T21:38:16Z")
HEY! Are you telling me that Cecil Adams is not a real person? A real person CAN be a trademark, just ask Martha Stewart. (If you dare, I understand that her sense of humor is not greatly developed and her temper IS.) If Cecil is NOT a real person, I will eat my hat. You know, that hat that I made out of chocolate, and couldn’t wear because it kept melting on my hair and turning me into a brunette? 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-19-welcomed-by-cecil/34142.md?page=2)