# 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:** 305
**Author:** ![Amikejo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/amikejo/32/13637_2.png) [@Amikejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amikejo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6090 "2023-02-16T15:54:02Z")
The leaves of the pitanga tree have been used as a medicinal tea for centuries. The tea has a real citrus-y tang to it. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6091 "2023-02-16T20:39:28Z")
I heard on the science radio show “Quirks & Quarks” that echidnas cool themselves off by blowing snot bubbles (since they can’t sweat or pant). That led me to the Wikipedia page for echidnas which was full of interesting factoids: > Echidnas’ faeces are 7 cm (3 in) long and are cylindrical in shape; they are usually broken and unrounded, and composed largely of dirt and ant-hill material. > Male echidnas have a four-headed penis. During mating, the heads on one side “shut down” and do not grow in size; the other two are used to release semen into the female’s two-branched reproductive tract. Each time it copulates, it alternates heads in sets of two. > Males will form lines up to ten individuals long, the youngest echidna trailing last, that follow the female and attempt to mate. During a mating season an echidna may switch between lines. This is known as the “train” system. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6092 "2023-02-17T05:25:06Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > > [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > > > The recording most commonly played (not necessarily on the radio) is “It’s a Small World (After All)”. It’s played hundreds of times daily at every Disney park. > > It’s been about 50 years since I went on _It’s a Small World_ at Disneyland. Does the song actually end and start again? Maybe it’s just a really long song that’s played once per day at every Disney park. I watched a Youtube video of someone taking the ride. It’s about 11 minutes long, and the song plays over and over - a dozen times or so - i think in various languages each time - English at the end of the ride. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2023, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6093 "2023-02-17T05:47:39Z")
There is actually a word that means, essentially, “my post is my cite”. (I’m paraphrasing heavily here.) ipsedixitism > **[Haggard Hawks | Word of the Year 2018](https://www.haggardhawks.com/woty-2018)** > > What came top in the 2018 Word of the Year poll on Haggard Hawks? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6094 "2023-02-17T06:12:48Z")
That reminds me of watching Questions for the PM wherein the respondent was frequently saying something like “_I refer the questioner to the comments I made some moments ago_.” I wonder if that would be called “ibidemism”. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6095 "2023-02-17T17:59:57Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > > > > [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > > > > > The recording most commonly played (not necessarily on the radio) is “It’s a Small World (After All)”. It’s played hundreds of times daily at every Disney park. > > > > It’s been about 50 years since I went on _It’s a Small World_ at Disneyland. Does the song actually end and start again? Maybe it’s just a really long song that’s played once per day at every Disney park. > > I watched a Youtube video of someone taking the ride. It’s about 11 minutes long, and the song plays over and over - a dozen times or so - i think in various languages each time - English at the end of the ride. Languages used are: 1. French. Au bout du Pôle Nord ou sur l’Equateur Y a un Jean qui rit, Y a un Jean qui pleure Du soleil du midi au soleil de minuit On a tous la même vie Car le monde est tout petit Devant le ciel on se dit Que nous sommes des fourmis Le monde est petit 2. Italian. Mari e monti Non ci dividono Luna e sole Sempre risplendono Se un sorriso farai In risposta tu avrai Amicizia e simpatia È un mondo piccolo Dopo tutto è piccolo È un mondo favoloso Ma è piccolo 1. Spanish. En el mundo hay risas y dolor Esperanzas y hay también temor Mucho hay en verdad Que poder compartir Entre la humanidad Muy pequeño el mundo es Muy pequeño el mundo es Debe haber mad hermandad Muy pequeño es 1. German. Es gibt nur einen Monday Eine Sonne scheint Und mit einem Lãcheln Ist nur Freundschaft Trennen Berge Und Meere und Grenzen querfeldein Diese Welt ist ja so klein Diese Welt ist klein, so klein Diese Welt is fein, so fein Und in dieser Welt, da woollen wir Brũder sein 1. English. There is just one moon, and one golden sun And a smile mean friendship to ev’ryone Though the mountains divide, and the oceans are wide It’s a small world after all It’s a small world after all It’s a small world after all It’s a small world after all It’s a small small world ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6096 "2023-02-17T18:14:50Z")
Mad hermandad: crazy brotherhood, or typo? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6097 "2023-02-17T18:55:40Z")
Today I learned (or re-learned) that the first woman to travel in space was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who was launched on a solo mission on June 16, 1963. Her flight lasted 70 hours, touching down on June 19, 1963. She remains the only woman to have flown solo in space. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6098 "2023-02-17T19:01:00Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Languages used are: Using the numbers @Skywatcher posted above (1,200 times in 16 hours), that means the song is 48 seconds long. I don’t think they could play all those languages in 48 seconds. I still think it’s an open question whether this is a song played 1,200 times, or a song with 1,200 verses played once. “Twelve-hundredth verse, same as the first.” Interestingly, when I was at Disney World a few months ago, I went on the Carousel of Progress ride. The audience rotates around four stages with animatronic characters extolling the wondrous household tech of different eras. Each vignette ends with a performance of the song _There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow_. If my math is right, the song plays once every 78.75 seconds. However, there’s only one version of this ride. It was originally built for the 1964 World’s Fair, moved to Disneyland (I think I went on it when I was a kid, too) until 1973, and has been at Disney World since 1975. So probably not the most played song, but it is described as the longest-running stage show in American theater history. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6099 "2023-02-17T19:02:51Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > German. > Es gibt nur einen Monday Eine Sonne scheint > Und mit einem Lãcheln > Ist nur Freundschaft Trennen Berge > Und Meere und Grenzen querfeldein This is almost total gibberish. Reads like a machine translation of the manual for a Chinese toaster. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6100 "2023-02-17T20:54:35Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > This is almost total gibberish Gibberish? You want gibberish? _Wenn ist da Nunstuck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! … Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwldt gersput!_ ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6101 "2023-02-17T21:45:26Z")
This is the deadliest joke in the world, isn’t it? I first wasn’t sure if it’s Monty Python or from Chaplin’s/Hinkel’s speech in “The Great Dictator”. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6102 "2023-02-17T22:00:46Z")
She’s the earliest Astronaut/Cosmonaut still alive (age 85). As you mentioned, her flight was June 16, 1963. The next two are both from the Gemini 7 mission Dec. 4, 1965 - Frank Borman (age 92) and Jim Lovell (age 94). ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6103 "2023-02-17T22:15:25Z")
[![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/22787f_b2727e706e9f49d9923f0476688510fb~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_498,h_498,al_c,q_50,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/22787f_b2727e706e9f49d9923f0476688510fb~mv2.jpg) ](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/22787f_b2727e706e9f49d9923f0476688510fb~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_498,h_498,al_c,q_50,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/22787f_b2727e706e9f49d9923f0476688510fb~mv2.jpg) Leaf Sheep have the face of a cow or sheep, but look like a house plant. They can photosynthesize, so they resemble farm animals, act like a plants and live in the sea! > **[Costasiella kuroshimae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costasiella_kuroshimae)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > informal group Opisthobranchia > clade Sacoglossa > Costasiella kuroshimae—also known as a "leaf slug", "leaf sheep", or "salty ocean caterpillar"—is a species of sacoglossan sea slug. Costasiella kuroshimae are shell-less marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the family Costasiellidae. They range in size from 5 millimetres (0.20 in) to 1 centimetre (0.39 in) in length. ---
**Author:** ![DETXL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/detxl/32/19366_2.png) [@DETXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DETXL)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6104 "2023-02-17T22:39:00Z")
Yeah that threw me for a bit. The French is also a bit weird—I am guessing “y a un Jean qui rit” (“there is a Jean who laughs”) is supposed to be _gens_ (people)? Anyway, per [this YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ICIaQCVRek) I suspect closer to: Es gibt nur einen Mond, eine Sonne scheint, Und mit einem Lächeln ist nur Freundschaft gemeint. Trennen Berge und Meere und Grenzen querfeldein, Diese Welt ist ja so klein. Diese Welt ist klein, so klein Diese Welt ist fein, so fein Und in dieser Welt, da wollen Wir Brüder sein ? (Elsewhere the Internet suggests possibly a different second line but that’s not what I hear on YouTube) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6105 "2023-02-17T22:41:02Z")
I know that translator! She is the reason why _vergüenza ajena_ was finally translated into German as _Fremdschämen_. So, you see, something good can come out of the worst colleagues. _Fremdschämen_ was a much needed concept in German, I have been advocating for it since the 80’s. Now everybody seems to believe that it has always been used. 🙂 And no, it is not _almost_ total gibberish. It is complete and utter gibberish, but not as good as Lewis Carrol gibberish. It is not even [funny](https://youtu.be/U4VjZKPjxnE?t=457). ETA: I would translate _Fremdschämen_ or _vergüenza ajena_ as “cringe worthy”, in case someone was wondering what I was talking about. It is not an perfect translation, but good enough. I would let it pass. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6106 "2023-02-17T23:07:44Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I know that translator! She is the reason why _vergüenza ajena_ was finally translated into German as _Fremdschämen_. So, you see, something good can come out of the worst colleagues. _Fremdschämen_ was a much needed concept in German, I have been advocating for it since the 80’s. Now everybody seems to believe that it has always been used. 🙂 See, I’ve always thought that “Fremdschämen” was a genuine German concept (and was a bit proud that we once more gifted such a wonderful word to the rest of the world), much older than this fancy youth-speak of “cringe”. Never knew it came from Spain. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6107 "2023-02-17T23:12:05Z")
See how good a concept it is? And much needed it was too! Please believe me: when I came to Berlin in the 80’s I repeatedly tried to explain this idea and nobody understood me. “That is not something we say here”, “no, you can’t feel shame for someone else, that is not how German works, do you mean embarrasment (_peinlich_)?” and the like. By the end of the 90’s I heard it for the first time in German. Somewhere in the naughs it became common. I was so happy. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6108 "2023-02-17T23:16:52Z")
But hasn’t Loriot invented and perfected the concept already in the 70s in Germany? All those sketches where someone acts weird and awkward and the audience cringes (there’s this word again) more and more? (The Noodle, The Picture Hangs Askew, several sketches of a square guy eating a difficult meal in a restaurant and so on) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6109 "2023-02-17T23:22:10Z")
Yes, of course, the idea is evident. But German lacked the word. See [here](https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/fremdschaemen): “Dieses Wort stand 2009 erstmals im Rechtschreibduden.” And " Das Wort _„fremdschämen“_ wurde in Österreich zum [Wort des Jahres](https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Verzeichnis:Deutsch/W%C3%B6rter_und_Unw%C3%B6rter_des_Jahres) 2010 gekürt." plus “Das Wort ist seit dem ersten Jahrzehnt des 21. Jahrhunderts in Gebrauch” from [Wiktionary](https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/fremdsch%C3%A4men). Hey! Did I just tell an interesting random fact to an audience of one? Yeah! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=304) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=306)