''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 organization. People who write columns are described as columnis ...

written under the pseudonym

Cecil Adams Cecil Adams, affectionately known to readers and fans and sometimes refers to himself as Uncle Cecil or Uncle Cece, is the pseudonymous author of ''The Straight Dope'', a popular question and answer column published in the ''Chicago Reader'' from ...

. 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 newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

'' as well as in

print syndication Print syndication distributes news articles, column (periodical), columns, Editorial cartoon, political cartoons, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. The syndicates offer reprint rights and grant permissions to ...

nationally in the United States, and on a website with the same name. The final column was printed on June 27, 2018, including a statement that it was only being placed on hiatus, though the column has not returned.

Name and tagline

The column derives its name from the American

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

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

old wives' tale An "old wives' tale" is a colloquial expression referring to spurious or superstitious claims. They can be said sometimes to be a type of urban legend, said to be passed down by older women to a younger generation. Such tales are considered super ...

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

s, and

invention An invention is a unique or novelty (patent), novel machine, device, Method_(patent), method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It m ...

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, so ...

: "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 (an initialism of its original name, the Arts & Entertainment Network) is an American cable and satellite television network and the flagship property of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company ...

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, The Publications established in 1973 Publications disestablished in 2018 1973 establishments in Illinois 2018 disestablishments in Illinois American blogs Columns (periodical) Scientific skepticism mass media