Editing Cecil Adams (section)

{{short description|American humorist}}
{{BLP primary sources|article|date=September 2012}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
'''Cecil Adams''', affectionately known to readers and fans and sometimes refers to himself as '''Uncle Cecil''' or '''Uncle Cece''', is the [[pseudonym]]ous author of ''[[The Straight Dope]]'', a popular question and answer column published in the ''[[Chicago Reader]]'' from 2 February 1973 to 2018.  The true identity of Adams, whether a single individual or a group of authors, has remained secret.  ''The Chicago Reader''{{'}}s 1986 trademark filing for the name "Cecil Adams" states that "Cecil Adams does not identify any particular individual but was devised as a fanciful name."<ref>{{cite web |url = http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4810:wllijm.2.1 |title = Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) |publisher = United States Patent and Trademark Office |access-date = 30 Aug 2013 |archive-date = 25 August 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170825193819/http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4810:wllijm.2.1 |url-status = live }}</ref> As of 2008, [[Ed Zotti]] was the editor of the column.<ref>[http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/library/HistBioMemF08.pdf Advance Publication Newsletter;  Volume Seventeen, Number 3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320060353/http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/library/HistBioMemF08.pdf |date=2012-03-20 }} Penguin Group (USA)</ref> The column was syndicated in 31 [[newspaper]]s in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]] and has been continued as a website.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} The aim of the column, and now the website, is to spread general knowledge and everyday rational thinking, using a very strong and characteristically quirky sense of humor - some of it self-deprecating.

Billed as the "World's Smartest Human",<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/196104/the-straight-dope-tells-all-by-cecil-adams/9780345420077/ | title = The Straight Dope Tells All | date = February 24, 1998 | work = Penguin Random House | access-date = February 22, 2019 | archive-date = February 22, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190222204819/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/196104/the-straight-dope-tells-all-by-cecil-adams/9780345420077/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2556/are-jet-contrails-the-latest-threat/ | title = Are jet contrails the latest threat? | date = June 16, 2000 | first = Cecil | last = Adams | work = The Straight Dope | access-date = February 22, 2019 | archive-date = February 27, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190227063858/https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2556/are-jet-contrails-the-latest-threat/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="SDfaq" /> Adams responded to often unusual inquiries with a high degree of humor (often directed against the questioner, sometimes sardonically), and at times carried out exhaustive research into obscure and arcane issues, [[urban legend]]s, and the like.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} On more than one occasion, Adams was forced to retract or modify an answer when confronted by "the Teeming Millions" (Adams' term for his readers), often claiming overwork and staff shortages.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} On rare occasions, Adams made appearances on the Straight Dope's [[Message Board]].{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

On June 27, 2018, Adams announced that the "Straight Dope" column would be ending after 45 years and over 3,400 columns.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.straightdope.com/21374450/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope | title=A note from Cecil Adams about The Straight Dope | date=27 June 2018 }}</ref>  On January 13, 2023, it was announced that Cecil Adams would again be writing a column on The Straight Dope Message Board.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-back/978175 | title=Cecil's back! | date=13 January 2023 }}</ref> The first column, which appeared on the same day, was titled, "Is [[longtermism]] the world’s most dangerous belief system?"<ref>{{cite web | url=https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-1-13-2023-is-longtermism-the-worlds-most-dangerous-belief-system/978173 | title=Straight Dope 1/13/2023: Is longtermism the world's most dangerous belief system? | date=13 January 2023 }}</ref>