The Straight Dope was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams.

Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino.

[1] It was first published in 1973 in the Chicago Reader as well as in print syndication nationally in the United States,[2] and on a website with the same name.

[3] The column derives its name from the American idiom meaning roughly "the true information; the full story"[4] and covers many subjects, including history, science, old wives' tales, urban legends, and inventions.

[5] In 1996, the A&E Network briefly aired a show based on the column called The Straight Dope, hosted and co-written by comedian Mike Lukas.