I recall reading an article in the Bodega Bay Navigator by one of their staff columnists who is a minister. He said there is some evidence that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were husband and wife. This does seem to make sense. Is it true? — adorablyred, via the Internet Now,…
This has probably been answered somewhere before, but I was getting my teeth drilled that day. Just what does kumbaya mean? — F. Pierson, via the Internet Oh Lord, kumbaya. Also spelled kum ba yah, cumbayah, kumbayah, and probably a few other ways. If you look in a good songbook,…
Can you confirm the following? It sounds rather fishy to me. — Adam Koford, Salt Lake City, Utah “Subject: Truth About the Finger “In the film Titanic, the character Rose is shown giving the finger to Jack, another character. Many people who have seen the film question whether ‘giving the…
My next-door neighbors just had a baby, announcing the birth with a pink lawn sign that says, “It’s a girl!” However, the space where you’re supposed to fill in the name of the baby was left blank. When my sister and her friend Jenn asked why it was blank, I…
An issue came up the other evening over dinner. Do identical twins have different fingerprints? If it’s a genetic trait, one would think the twins would have the same fingerprints at birth; yet we are told everyone has unique prints. Please help me so I can get some sleep. –…
Educational conservatives sometimes say our problems would be over if we just taught kids to diagram sentences. Yet consider this simple sentence, which is found in that most basic of books, a children’s primer: “See Spot run.” How would you diagram this sentence? See is the predicate; Spot is the…
When will average people feasibly be able to afford a commercial trip into orbit? — Mike, via AOL What’s your idea of average? If it’s people who have $98,000 they can plunk down for a three-hour ride in 2001 aboard a spacecraft that isn’t even built yet, there’s a company…
Cecil, I’ve got a question for you that has me stumped. How are shrunken heads made? I’m sure they have to take the skull out, but how? And why do certain cultures shrink human heads anyway? — Headhunter Joe, via AOL Another wholesome topic. But if I don’t explain this…
My husband swears that when he took anthropology they talked about a race of blue people. How did I miss this? Don’t you dare say it was the Smurfs. — Lonijo, via AOL OK, it wasn’t the Smurfs. And my guess is you’re not going to buy the idea that…
Tycho Brahe, the astronomer, is buried here in Prague in a church. That’s not so unusual. What is rather strange is the persistent rumor that he had a silver nose, something to do with a duel. Did it tie on around his face with silk strings? Was it surgically attached?…
In your book The Straight Dope, you were asked whether John Wayne had ever served in the military. You said no — that though Wayne as a youth had wanted to become a naval officer, “during World War II he was rejected for military service.” However, it may be more…
What is the deal with the millennium? I understand that people think years ending in zeros are significant, so it follows that a year ending in three zeros is really significant. But for years I have heard people talking about the “arrival of the millennium,” meaning either that we’re going…
In cartoons bulls are always depicted with rings through their noses. Being a city kid whose idea of farm life mostly comes from watching Green Acres, I have never had the opportunity to inspect a bull up close. Do they really have nose rings? If so, why? I have a…
Regarding Spam (April 30), is it true, as travel writer Paul Theroux claims, that the people of the South Pacific love their Spam because it tastes so much like… people? — Mary E. Sage, via the Internet Marketing Spam must present some unique challenges. Imagine the conversation in the boardroom:…
In the answer about the guillotine in your online archive, you say that “the fatal blow induces immediate unconsciousness.” In actuality the human head does remain conscious fifteen to twenty seconds after decapitation. This was proven when a scientist condemned to the guillotine in the 1700s told his assistant to…
There was a news story a few years back about a jazz musician who died and was found to be a woman after living her life as a man. She was married and had three grown children who refused to believe their father was a woman. No one I ask…
It’s a miracle! No, I don’t have stigmata, I haven’t tasted a Circus Peanut and enjoyed it, and I haven’t heard Steve Miller apologize for ripping off other artists. What has happened is that I’ve found relief for my asthma in a medication known as a steroid (Azmacort). I assume…
Recently I read the useless fact that the quack of a duck will not echo. (1) Is this true? (I currently do not have access to either a duck or a canyon, or I would find out myself.) (2) Why not (assuming it is true)? (3) Are there other noises…
I’ve just begun reading your latest book, The Straight Dope Tells All. On page two, while ruminating on the subject of “questions… that give you pause,” you write, “The other day someone writes in and says, ‘If making a robot limb is so hard but other types of machines are…
You probably answered this one years ago, but in 1973, I was in junior high. Fig Newton Cookies… who the heck was Newton? — William Killinger, via the Internet Much as I like Fig Newtons and the other fine products of the Nabisco company, you can appreciate that this not…
We’ve been having a heated discussion in the office, and we need to know how Spam luncheon meat is really made. Also, how come they never released a chicken or turkey version (i.e., Spurkey or Spicken)? Finally, what is Monty Python’s true relationship with Spam? — Steve Tolin, Sudbury, Ontario…
Greetings, Master. I’ve checked the archives and found no reference to the following story, which is supposed to have come from the Daily Texan, the University of Texas newspaper. This guy went out last Saturday night to a party and had a couple of beers. Some girl seemed to like…
