Straight Dope Archive

What causes ringing in your ears?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
December 9, 1994
Is "whether or not" good grammar?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
December 2, 1994
Is there such a thing as cancer of the heart?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
November 25, 1994
Are there really such things as "talking drums"?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
November 18, 1994
How can Korean-Americans afford to start so many grocery stores?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
November 4, 1994
Can some people extinguish streetlamps by means of their bodily emanations?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
October 28, 1994
If the stub you get at the airport is "not the baggage check described in the Warsaw Convention," what is?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
October 21, 1994
How come "objects in mirror are closer than they appear"? Why not the right distance?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
October 21, 1994
If loss of the rain forest would deplete oxygen, why didn't deforestation of North America and Europe do so?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
October 7, 1994
Why is BC an English abbreviation while AD is a Latin one?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 30, 1994
When happens when you drive between two countries that drive on opposite sides of the road?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 23, 1994
Why does metal produce strange effects in a microwave?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 23, 1994
Why was America named after Amerigo Vespucci?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 16, 1994
Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 9, 1994
If a tree falls in the woods, is there a sound?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 9, 1994
Why are dead bodies embalmed?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 9, 1994
Did U.S. President Zachary Taylor die of eating cherries with milk on a warm day?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 2, 1994
Why does the sun darken skin but lighten hair?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 26, 1994
Why does the U.S. surgeon general wear a uniform?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 26, 1994
Are the Social Security trust funds a sham?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 19, 1994
What does a ground fault interrupter do?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 12, 1994
The last word on circumcision
By Cecil Adams
August 5, 1994
Why did so many Native Americans die of European diseases but not vice versa?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 29, 1994
What causes "piss shiver"?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 22, 1994
How long does it take electricity to travel from the generator to my house?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 22, 1994
Why are Indian eunuchs warned about unsafe sex?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 15, 1994
Were magnetic strips put in U.S. currency so the feds could track your money?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 24, 1994
How did the U.S. get a naval base in Cuba?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 17, 1994
Why did cosmonauts land on land while astronauts landed on water?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 17, 1994
Did cigarettes distributed to WWII GIs kill more men than died in battle?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 10, 1994
How come portraits on coins are in profile while those on bills are full face?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
May 27, 1994
Why is there braille on drive-up teller machines?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
May 20, 1994
Why do you blow on coffee to cool it, but on your hands to warm them? Plus: if veggies have no fat, why is veggie oil all fat?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
May 13, 1994
Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
May 13, 1994
Old refrain about rain in Spain explained
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
May 6, 1994
Can HIV pass through the pores in latex condoms?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
May 6, 1994
McDonald's commercials explained!
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 29, 1994
What's the market for spare body parts?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 29, 1994
Who decided Bohemian = nonconformist?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 22, 1994
Did Mussolini use castor oil as an instrument of torture?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 22, 1994
Victoria said, "We are not amused." Not amused by what?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 15, 1994
Why were dinosaurs so big?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 8, 1994
Why do lions appear on coats of arms even though Europe didn't have any?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 1, 1994
If the groundhog sees its shadow Feb. 2, why does that mean six more weeks of winter?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 1, 1994
What happened to 50-cent pieces?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
March 18, 1994
Etymology of "on the fritz": the usual baloney
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
March 11, 1994
Bodybuilders in bed: using a jackhammer to drive a tack?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
March 11, 1994
How serious is squamous cell carcinoma?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
March 4, 1994
Since when do CDs skip?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
March 4, 1994
What did Alice B. Toklas have to do with Alice B. Toklas brownies?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
February 25, 1994
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