# Why Straight Dope?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-straight-dope/51678
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 25, 2001, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-straight-dope/51678 "2001-01-25T05:04:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Ressl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Ressl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ressl)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2001, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-straight-dope/51678/1 "2001-01-25T05:04:33Z")

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Why was the name “The Straight Dope” choosen?  
(I couldn’t find anything in the FAQ)

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### Author: ![Obvious\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Obvious\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obvious_Guy)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2001, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-straight-dope/51678/2 "2001-01-25T05:08:52Z")

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I could be wrong… but Straight Dope is a street term for telling the truth.

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### Author: ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-straight-dope/51678/3 "2001-01-26T00:52:30Z")

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These might help:  
[The Ultimate SD Question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=39931)  
[the straight dope](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=23776)  
[The Straight Dope](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=5096)  
[Origin of the phrase “straight dope”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=29430)

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### Author: ![Llamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Llamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llamer)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2001, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-straight-dope/51678/4 "2001-05-05T02:15:02Z")

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What about the suffix often added after said slang, “From the horse’s mouth?” I guess it might have to do with the horse racing thing, come to think of it.