Straight Dope Archive

If Pluto is a dog, what is Goofy?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 22, 1989
Can Kirlian photography capture ghostly images?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 15, 1989
What's the origin of the term "go-go dancer"?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 15, 1989
Will Transcendental Meditation enable you to levitate?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
September 8, 1989
Is Mercator projection on maps a plot to reduce the importance of Africa, S. America?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 25, 1989
Where does the phrase "the dickens" come from?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 25, 1989
Who operates those weird "numbers stations" on shortwave radio?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 18, 1989
Why is there an I Street and a K Street but no J Street in Washington, D.C.?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 18, 1989
Do crystals have special powers? Could a super-bright light cause blindness?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 11, 1989
What's the international language of business, French or English?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 4, 1989
Why is "Fido" a common name for a dog?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 4, 1989
Why is the waiting room for talk-show guests called the "green room"?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
August 4, 1989
Has a 200 mpg carburetor been suppressed by the oil industry?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 28, 1989
How do they get the sperm used in artificial insemination of animals?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 28, 1989
What's the purpose of those antennae with the triangular platform at the top?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 28, 1989
What's the purpose of revolving doors?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 21, 1989
Why do bubbles stream from fixed spots in glasses of beer or soda pop?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 21, 1989
Why is AMBULANCE stenciled backwards on the front of an ambulance?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 21, 1989
Why does head hair grow indefinitely but other body hair doesn't?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 14, 1989
Why do wet things look darker than dry things?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
July 7, 1989
What is "toejam," as in "toejam football"?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 30, 1989
Does freezing water have an odd property that makes life on earth possible?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 30, 1989
Do you age more quickly at the pole than than equator due to relativity?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 30, 1989
How can I get myself fossilized?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 23, 1989
Is the earth getting heavier or lighter?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 23, 1989
Why do men's and women's shirts button on different sides?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 16, 1989
What's the origin of the word "denim"?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 16, 1989
Did Anne Boleyn, wife of Henry VIII, have a sixth finger and a third breast?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 16, 1989
Does saltpeter suppress male ardor?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 16, 1989
Where did the Grateful Dead get their name?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 9, 1989
Is time travel possible?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
June 2, 1989
If three of the bodily humors (temperaments) boil down to "sad," "glad," and "mad," what's the fourth?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
May 19, 1989
What's up with Dianetics/Scientology?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
May 12, 1989
Why are rebate checks drawn on obscure banks in the middle of nowhere?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
May 5, 1989
In "The Flintstones," what was Barney Rubble's job?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 14, 1989
What does "callipygian" mean?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 7, 1989
Is red Fiestaware radioactive?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
April 7, 1989
Do cow and termite flatulence threaten the earth's atmosphere?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
March 24, 1989
Has anybody actually bought stereo speakers costing $50,000 a pair?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
February 17, 1989
Hitler was building the Third Reich. What were Reichs One and Two?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
February 15, 1989
Why do food labels say, "may contain the following oils …." Don't they know?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
February 10, 1989
Why is palm oil bad for you?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
February 10, 1989
Why do toasters have a "ONE SLICE" slot?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
February 10, 1989
Has anyone vanished in the Bermuda Triangle lately?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
February 3, 1989
Why are moths attracted to bright lights?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
January 27, 1989
What was the "Great Vowel Shift" and why did it happen?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
January 20, 1989
What's the purpose of the rocks sometimes seen on flat roofs?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
January 20, 1989
Did Thomas Jefferson father children by a slave mistress?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
January 6, 1989
Why are there high tides twice a day when the earth rotates beneath the moon only once a day?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
December 16, 1988
You fire a gun and drop a bullet at the same time. Which bullet hits the ground first?
A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams
December 16, 1988
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