The Straight Dope 11/01/2002

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

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 11/01/2002

Dear Cecil:

Were vomitoriums really used in ancient Roman times so that
people could throw up between courses in order to eat more?
--Christine

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Cecil replies:

Let me ask you this, Christine. The last time you were
doubled over the porcelain throne heaving your nachos, did
you think: I want to permanently consecrate part of my home
to this delicious experience?

Well, neither did the Romans. While there was something
called a vomitorium (from the Latin vomitus, past participle
of vomere, to vomit), it wasn't a room set aside to vomit
in. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/021101.html


STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

I've never seen the film on the subject, and being quite
certain I never want to see another film starring Leonardo
DiCaprio I probably never will see it. So I ask you, who was
the man in the iron mask? I've asked many people about this
guy who apparently spent 34 years in the Bastille wearing a
metal contraption on his face, and one passing know-it-all
told me that apparently the masked man scratched some words
on a plate and dropped it out the window into the river,
where it was fished out by a fisherman. The fisherman handed
it in to the authorities, who would have killed him, had
they not discovered he couldn't read. I don't think I
believe the above story, but I ask you, what should I
believe? - -Raven, Liverpool 

SDSTAFF Dex replies:

It's hard to know what to believe. There has been
speculation, romantic literature, and analysis of all sorts
for 300 years, with countless novels and theories by the
likes of Voltaire, Pagnol and Jung. Most of the details that
have come down to us are strictly flights of fancy. But the
story wasn't manufactured from whole cloth. There really was
a man in a mask. 

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


STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 12/03/1982

Dear Cecil: 

OK, no bullshit now. I got a simple question, I want a
simple answer: how come you can see through glass? --Daniel
C., Washington, D.C.  

Dear Daniel:  

Not to beat around the
bush or anything, Dan, but the reason you can see through
glass basically is that there is no reason for you not to be
able to see through it. Despite its appearance, glass is
really a highly viscous liquid rather than a solid, and you
can see through it for the same reasons that you can see
through water. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_120.html

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