The Straight Dope 03/25/2005

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

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 03/25/2005

Dear Cecil:

What's up with PCP turning people into cannibals? --Jim,
New York

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Cecil replies:

Now, Jim. It's not like cannibalism is a frequent
consequence of PCP use. Only one case has turned up that
I know of, involving Antron Singleton, a would-be rapper
using the stage name Big Lurch. In 2002, after he was
found walking around Los Angeles naked and covered with
blood, his roommate Tynisha Ysais, 21, was discovered
dead on the floor of their apartment with her chest
slashed open and her internal organs exposed. Pieces of
her right lung, which had been removed from her body,
appeared chewed and torn, and there were teeth marks on
her face. Singleton's lawyer claimed his client had
tucked into Ysais after a five-day PCP binge had made him
psychotic. An insanity plea was rejected, and Singleton
was sentenced to life in prison without parole; a similar
incident soon found its way into an episode of CSI.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050325.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

A friend of mine (really) wants to know how they can make
those tiny needles. He has a point (so to speak); how can
they be so small yet the stuff in the syringe still gets
through. Any ideas? --Tommy in Tallahassee

SDSTAFF Una replies:

Syringes are a special interest of mine. In addition to
having an engineer's interest in such things, I've been
diabetic for some time and have given myself perhaps
30,000 or so injections. So I venture to say I know
whereof I speak. 

The key to syringe making is forming the hollow tube, or
cannula. Processes to make small tubes and hollow needles
are quite old, and almost always begin by forming a large
tube. This large tube is formed by either rolling a sheet
of metal into a tube and welding the seam, or by taking a
solid billet of metal and boring a hole through the
center while the metal is heated (creating "seamless
tubing").

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

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 09/28/1984

Dear Cecil: 

I keep hearing and reading about "signifying," e.g.,
someone calls you a low-life SOB but means it as a term
of endearment. What does signifying mean and where does
it come from? Does this mean that when you insult someone
in your column, you really like them? --D.W.A., Downers
Grove, Illinois  

Cecil replies:  

Let's not jump to any rash conclusions, D. Signifying--the 
origin of the term is obscure--is the process of semi-witty 
insults by which black American male adolescents attempt 
to cut their buddies down to size. Some claim the practice 
has its origins in the days of slavery, when blacks had to learn
to take abuse from whites without getting mad, lest the
whites punish them. But Cecil, himself a signifier of
legendary ability (although we used to call it grossing
out), is inclined to think that signifying, under various
names, is common among males of any hue whenever the sap
is running. As with any sort of repartee, whether you
really mean it depends on the situation. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_244c.html

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