The Straight Dope: Can rats swim up through the toilet?

[Send questions for Cecil Adams: cecil@straightdope.com](mailto:cecil@straightdope.com) FOLLOW CECIL ADAMS ON [TWITTER]( AND [FACEBOOK](! [840316resan.gif] THREADSPOTTING: THE BEST OF THE STRAIGHT DOPE MESSAGE BOARD — 08/16/2019 Listening to the music of the solar system. [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #1 — 03/16/1984 Dear Cecil: At 4:30 this morning I awoke to an unusual sloshing sound coming from the bathroom. Being the 'fraidy cat that I am, I forced my husband to investigate. Sure enough, we had a large (approximately 12 inches) rat practicing for the Summer Olympics in our toilet! Yucko! After dealing with the immediate situation (I will spare you the details), we started wondering: how did the rat get into the toilet in the first place? Did he climb up the pipe from the sewer? (Bear in mind that we live in a third-floor apartment). As it turns out, we discovered that he had gotten in through a hole underneath our bathroom sink, which has a cupboard under it. Which raised another question: just how did he manage to scrabble into a porcelain toilet bowl? How clever are these little monsters, anyway? Can they in fact climb through pipes? The thought of having one swim up from below while you're sitting there reading Cosmopolitan is too horrible to contemplate. — K.B., Chicago Cecil replies: This is going to gross you out of existence, K.B., but duty demands that the facts be revealed, come what may. First the good news. [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE STAFF REPORT — 08/21/2001 Dear Straight Dope: What is the origin of the term "black sheep"? I've spent hours in looking all the normal places, and found a lot of definitions, but no origin. — donmac SDStaff Dex replies: You need to find a better library, or maybe a better librarian. My sources were pretty obvious: Brewer’s, the OED, and a few dictionaries of slang phrases. The definition is pretty clear. [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #2 — 09/12/2003 Dear Cecil: I'm sort of surprised that you dismiss the work of Freud as mere quackery in your recent column about B.F. Skinner. No doubt Freud's theories and the therapeutic effectiveness of psychoanalysis remain open and controversial issues. But accusing the father of psychoanalysis and one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century of quackery is simply "Freud-bashing" and serves no purpose. — T. Mehr, via the Straight Dope Message Board Cecil replies: I never accused Freud of mere quackery. On the contrary, I think most fair-minded folk nowadays would agree that Freud elevated quackery to a whole new level. Phrenology, animal magnetism, and the like have been consigned to the dustbin of history, but you’ll still find intelligent people praising Freud’s pioneering contributions to our understanding of the human mind. To adapt General Bosquet’s remark about the Charge of the Light Brigade: Freudian theory may be magnificent, but it ain’t science. [Click here]( for more. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [View this message as a webpage](. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. To advertise on The Straight Dope, contact Rich Hummel at rhummel@suntimes.com [Privacy Policy/Terms of Use]( • [Unsubscribe]( © 2019 Straight Dope, LLC. 30 N Racine Ave. Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60607