"The Straight Dope" was a question-and-answer

newspaper column A column is a recurring piece or article in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, where a writer expresses their own opinion in few columns allotted to them by the newspaper organisation. Columns are written by columnists. What differe ...

written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 1973 in the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'' as well as in

print syndication Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, political cartoons, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. The syndicates offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing cont ...

nationally in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and on a website with the same name. On more than one occasion, the authors (i.e. Cecil Adams) were forced to retract or modify an answer when confronted by the readers. Following the column of June 27, 2018, the "Straight Dope" column was placed on hiatus, with no decision made regarding its future. The website and associated forum continue to be active. Chicago's public radio station, WBEZ, has purchased Sun-Times Media (STM), which owns the Straight Dope, including the SDMB.

Name and tagline

The column derives its name from the American

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language ...

meaning roughly "the true information; the full story" and covers many subjects, including

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

, old wives' tales,

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

s, and

invention An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

s. The column appeared under the

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, s ...

: "Fighting ignorance since 1973. (It's taking longer than we thought.)”

Books

Five collections of columns have been published, sometimes referred to as the Straight Dope Cyclopedia of Human Knowledge: *''The Straight Dope'' (1984) *''More of the Straight Dope'' (1988) *''Return of the Straight Dope'' (1994) *''The Straight Dope Tells All'' (1998) *''Triumph of the Straight Dope'' (1999) In addition, the 1993 collection ''Know It All'' was published for younger audiences by Cecil's "assistant" Ed Zotti.

Television

In 1996, the

A&E Network A&E is an American basic cable network, the flagship television property of A&E Networks. The network was originally founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, initially focusing on fine arts, documentaries, dramas, and educational ent ...

briefly aired a show based on the column called ''The Straight Dope'', hosted and co-written by comedian Mike Lukas. A podcast has also been released sporadically.

References

External links

*
Official forum
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Straight Dope 1973 establishments in the United States American blogs Columns (periodical) Scientific skepticism mass media