The Straight Dope 07/16/2004

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

You are subscribed as: [[email protected]]

To unsubscribe CLICK on the URL below this line:
mailto:[email protected]
If you can't "click" above, then send a blank email to:
[email protected]
____________________________________________
THE STRAIGHT DOPE 07/16/2004

Dear Cecil:

The phrase "ketchup is a vegetable" is coming up a lot in
discussions of President Reagan's recent demise. What's the
story behind that line? Who classifies ketchup, or any other
food, as a vegetable, meat, legume, etc? Why do they feel a
need to make these official classifications? Who in the
Reagan administration actually made that decision? I've also
heard that the ketchup-as-vegetable thing was really
Carter's doing and that salsa was classified as a vegetable
by Clinton. When I search for the origin of the phrase, all
I get are a bunch of political sites repeating it without
explanation. --Russ, via e-mail

~~~~~~
Looking for the perfect gift for that wedding, birthday, or
bar mitzvah? Straight Dope books are the very thing! See
http://www.straightdope.com/store.html
~~~~~~

Cecil replies:

No wonder. The story is so convoluted that it defied simple
explanation at the time. Even today, the episode can be
plausibly presented (depending on the political leanings of
the presenter) as either a simple bureaucratic screwup or an
unsuccessful effort by the right to pursue its agenda at the
expense of the nation's kids.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040716.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

My son just lost another tooth, and being ten, is old enough
to understand that I am the "tooth fairy." We're wondering
how this myth originated. We've done some searches on the
Internet to no avail. Can you help?--Diane Copeland

SDSTAFF Dex replies:

Teething rituals date back to ancient times   most societies
view teething as a rite of passage. But this particular
ritual may be only a century old.

There are lots of ancient folk methods of disposing of lost
teeth, and lots of superstitions surrounding the teething
process   both the arrival of the first baby teeth (or "milk
teeth"), and their exfoliation and the growth of the adult
(permanent) teeth. 

The nursing baby becomes a chewing infant when teeth come
in; the infant becomes a youngster when the baby teeth are
lost and the permanent teeth arrive. As with any rites of
passage, different societies evolved rituals and
superstitions. 

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtoothfairy.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 10/26/1984

Dear Cecil: 

My girlfriend says that half of the film crew and eight of
the cast of the movie The Conqueror starring John Wayne died
of cancer after an A-bomb test in Nevada. It can't be the
truth--that many people--can it? Please, Cecil, give us the
Straight Dope. --John L., Santa Monica, California

Cecil replies:  

I'm horrified to have to report this, John, but your 
girlfriend's claim is only slightly exaggerated. Of the
220 persons who worked on The Conqueror on location in Utah
in 1955, 91 had contracted cancer as of the early 1980s and
46 died of it, including stars John Wayne, Susan Hayward,
and Agnes Moorehead, and director Dick Powell. Experts say
under ordinary circumstances only 30 people out of a group
of that size should have gotten cancer. The cause? No one
can say for sure, but many attribute the cancers to
radioactive fallout from U.S. atom bomb tests in nearby
Nevada. The whole ghastly story is told in The Hollywood
Hall of Shame by Harry and Michael Medved. But let's start
at the beginning. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_016.html

____________________________________________
Here's how you can get your OWN FREE Subscription:
Send a blank mailto:[email protected]
____________________________________________
Copyright 1995 - 2004 Chicago Reader, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
You may forward this document by email ONLY if you
include the entire document INCLUDING the information
at the bottom of this publication
____________________________________________
Visit our good friends at Joke A Day http://www.jokeaday.com
They're kind enough to mail THE STRAIGHT DOPE for us.
Join the World's Largest Daily Humor List and receive daily
laughs in your email by sending mailto:[email protected]