# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674 "2020-04-13T03:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 250
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4989 "2022-08-05T23:17:42Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I once went thru a McD’s, and for the beverage I wanted all they sold were medium and large. Htf can it be a medium? When I was a kid, they also had a small size beverage. the cup size could fit into a child’s hand. Shakes, however, were sold only in one size; at the time, it was the size of a large beverage. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4990 "2022-08-05T23:21:16Z")
The definitive [explanation](https://youtu.be/up-RvuljLmE) on olive sizes by the great Marshall Efron from 1972. Starbucks needs to really up their game. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4991 "2022-08-06T00:21:10Z")
[Another cruise ship has run aground.](https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/video-hurtigruten-ship-grounds-in-norway-on-return-trip-from-shipyard) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4992 "2022-08-06T01:26:34Z")
**Dollar** is a currency name in over 20 countries, but the word did not originate in any one of them. > In 1520, the Kingdom of Bohemia began minting coins from silver mined locally in Joachimsthal and marked on reverse with the Bohemian lion. The coins would be named _joachimsthaler_ after the town, becoming shortened in common usage to _thaler_ or _taler_. It worked its way through Low German _daler_ to Spanish _dólar_ to the English North American colonies as the _Spanish dollar_, then shortened there to the current spelling _dollar_. [It is not clear however, how the dollar sign $ came to represent the dollar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_sign#Earlier_history_of_the_symbol). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4993 "2022-08-06T02:14:02Z")
Tell the upseller that the only proper sizes for beverages are “just right,” “too much,” and “no thanks.” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4994 "2022-08-06T02:56:34Z")
Penis sizes as named by: (male): big, huge and gigantic (female): tiny, small, and barely adequate ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4995 "2022-08-06T03:02:22Z")
My Og. They’ve re-cultured Dim Sum. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4996 "2022-08-06T03:04:11Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Penis sizes as named by: > > (male): big, huge and gigantic > (female): tiny, small, and barely adequate Reported: ✅ **I recognize myself in this post and it has made me uncomfortable**. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4997 "2022-08-06T03:32:08Z")
Are we back to jumbo shrimp? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4998 "2022-08-07T16:20:18Z")
TIL that Humphrey Bogart was a master-level chess player and a tournament director for the U.S. Chess Federation. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4999 "2022-08-08T09:18:06Z")
The East River, so called, is no river. It’s a strait of the Atlantic Ocean. (It just looks like a river.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5000 "2022-08-08T10:26:54Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > **Dollar** is a currency name in over 20 countries, but the word did not originate in any one of them. The currency names “pound” and “lira” mean the same thing - lira comes from the Latin “libra”, or pound, source of the abbreviation “lb”. That’s why in Hebrew, and in other languages too I presume, the British currency is called the “lira sterling”. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5001 "2022-08-08T10:53:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The currency names “pound” and “lira” mean the same thing - lira comes from the Latin “libra”, or pound, source of the abbreviation “lb”. That’s why in Hebrew, and in other languages too I presume, the British currency is called the “lira sterling”. Libra means _balance_, or scales, not pound. Latin for _weight_ is poundus. So, yeah, both words are from latin and they came to mean a unit of money, but they aren’t quite the same. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5002 "2022-08-08T10:57:50Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Libra means _balance_, or scales, not pound. According to the [dictionary](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/libra), the word also referred to a unit of weight, of 327.5 grams. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5003 "2022-08-08T11:04:47Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > **Dollar** is a currency name in over 20 countries, but the word did not originate in any one of them. There have been a lot of countries that used the **florin** outside of Florence. Not to mention Aruba and Hungary (forint) that still use it. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5004 "2022-08-08T11:17:27Z")
Ah. Etymology is so pleasingly tangly. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5005 "2022-08-08T14:08:08Z")
Joachim’s valley, dug for its silver, gave us the Dollar Neader’s valley, dig for its limestone with some curious bones, gave us the caveman. Joachim Neander had nothing to do with the silver valley, but the bone valley was named for him. He wrote the Calvinist hymn [Praise to the Lord, Almighty.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8QBGO4er6uQ) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5006 "2022-08-09T03:36:46Z")
My grandmother used to purchase “Ice Milk” in cartons, from the ice cream section. I suspect it was cheaper and that’s why. I didn’t taste much difference, except that it melted faster than ice cream. I just heard on the BBC that Olivia Newton-John’s grandfather won a Nobel Prize in physics. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5007 "2022-08-09T14:52:06Z")
As of 2022, J. Fred Muggs is still alive. > **[J. Fred Muggs — The Chimpanzee That Saved NBC’s ‘Today’ Show](https://allthatsinteresting.com/j-fred-muggs)** > > When the ratings for NBC's 'Today' show were plummeting, they looked to a non-human species for help. J. Fred Muggs, a chimpanzee, performed comedy routines, had a wardrobe of 450 outfits, and played the piano. He also had epic temper tantrums and... ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5008 "2022-08-09T15:06:36Z")
Those clocks on the wall behind them, with city names. I thought about hanging a line of cheap Wal mart clocks, and labeling them something like: Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas. The “amusing” thing would be them all the same time zone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=249) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=251)