# With 40 years of enlightenment, has Cecil... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 25, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581 "2012-01-25T05:47:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RufusButterworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@RufusButterworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RufusButterworth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/1 "2012-01-25T05:47:19Z")
. . .ever said “That’s the stupidest question I ever heard!” Or is this the first? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/2 "2012-01-25T06:34:09Z")
Is what the first? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/3 "2012-01-25T12:14:35Z")
Every once in a while, at the end of one of Cecil’s columns, there is a section called “Questions we’re still thinking about”. This is close to what you’re asking for. Here’s one of them: > **[Do I sweat a liter every night?](https://www.straightdope.com/21344068/do-i-sweat-a-liter-every-night)** I don’t know how to find all of them except by Googling on “Questions we’re still thinking about” and “Straight Dope” (or maybe “Cecil Adams”). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/4 "2012-01-25T14:26:56Z")
Wagner is right. He does collect stupid questions at the end of articles once in awhile. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/5 "2012-01-25T14:41:56Z")
He says this very often, but is far too professional to ever publish it. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/6 "2012-01-25T17:00:48Z")
Legend has it that somebody once told Cecil that “love means never having to say you’re sorry,” to which the Omniscient One replied “that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/7 "2012-01-25T17:10:16Z")
I don’t know if Cecil has ever ranked a single question as “stupidest” but he’s used some colorful language to express his opinion. [“If ignorance were cornflakes, John, you’d be General Mills.”](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/52/does-a-woman-retain-traces-of-her-male-partner-after-giving-birth) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/8 "2012-01-25T17:41:59Z")
Well, since Cecil is travelling backwards in time, he’s comparing the questions he gets to questions he hasn’t been asked yet. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/9 "2012-01-25T18:05:37Z")
You should hear what he says off the record, or on the phone sometimes. I’ll refrain from quoting. ---
**Author:** ![Sinisterniik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Sinisterniik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinisterniik)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/10 "2012-01-25T18:58:39Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Every once in a while, at the end of one of Cecil’s columns, there is a section called “Questions we’re still thinking about”. This is close to what you’re asking for. Here’s one of them: > > [Do I sweat a liter every night? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2977/do-i-sweat-a-liter-every-night) > > I don’t know how to find all of them except by Googling on “Questions we’re still thinking about” and “Straight Dope” (or maybe “Cecil Adams”). Ooooo! I like this [one](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2987/do-shadows-weigh-anything). ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/11 "2012-01-26T00:08:36Z")
Move to CoCC/SR. ---
**Author:** ![RufusButterworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@RufusButterworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RufusButterworth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/12 "2012-01-27T08:15:53Z")
Thanks, I knew he must have been tempted at times. Sorry for placing in the wrong category. And **Washoe** , Ryan O’Neal actually comes close to saying that to Barbra Streisand in “What’s Up Doc?” (1972) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/13 "2012-01-27T09:46:50Z")
RufusButterworth, I’m pretty sure that Washoe knows perfectly well that Ryan O’Neal said that to Barbara Streisand in _What’s Up, Doc?_. Washoe was joking. You’re new here, and I don’t think you understand the concept of being wooshed yet. ---
**Author:** ![RufusButterworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@RufusButterworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RufusButterworth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-40-years-of-enlightenment-has-cecil/610581/14 "2012-01-28T04:39:29Z")
Understood, **Wendell**. As I recall, Washoe was a “talking” chimp, so I should have known better. 😉