# 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:** 357
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7131 "2023-08-05T14:11:48Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > “has anyone ever told you…” and he spat out “Yes!” On my previous message board, a poster whose user name was “d” followed but something that was plausibly a last name, posted a comment that seemed so true that I used it for my sig for a while: > [@plastic.com user](#): > > Fuck you. Fuck Cheech and Chong and Fuck anyone else who still thinks that joke is funny ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7132 "2023-08-05T18:10:06Z")
I guess I look enough like one particular celebrity - not gonna say which one - so I get the occasional comment “Has anyone told you that you look like \_\_?” Anyhow, life is too short to waste time on such a discussion. I’ve managed to turn it around by saying, “yeah, but I prefer to think that they do look a lot like me. They got lucky for sure. (smile).” ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7133 "2023-08-05T18:47:32Z")
Having read this in a post by @Beckdawrek: > [@Where do these stains on my pants come from?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-stains-on-my-pants-come-from/372573/17): > > …ETA, My Daddy called civilian khakis “chinos”… (and BTW I never heard the term “civilian khakis” before - maybe it’s exclusively “chinos” in the UK) I found myself wondering, _where does the word chinos come from?_ Here’s your answer: > **[Chino cloth | Etymology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chino_cloth#Etymology)** > > As the cloth itself was originally made in China, the trousers were known in Spanish as pantalones chinos (Chinese pants), which became shortened to simply "chinos" in English. Short and sweet. j ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7134 "2023-08-05T19:13:29Z")
Everything not military issue was civilian in my Daddy’s world. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7135 "2023-08-05T19:22:32Z")
Fair enough. Here’s a weird aside arising from this. I just googled “civilian khakis” - in quotes, to make sure I was looking for the full phrase, and got 14 600 hits. Commonly used phrase, then? Well, on page 3 of the hits you find this: > _In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 21 already displayed._ 14 600 cut down to 21? Is this a record? (And maybe it was pretty specific to your daddy!) j ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7136 "2023-08-05T19:26:33Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > He said the inside of that character costume really smelled. And he was sealed in with it. I think the lion costume worn by Bert Lahr in _The Wizard of Oz_ takes the cake. It weighed between 60 and 90 pounds (cites don’t agree on a precise weight), and was made from real lion skin and fur. The set was very hot due to the lights that were used, and Bert sweated buckets inside that thing. The costume sold for $3M around ten years ago. ---
**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 5, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7137 "2023-08-05T21:53:42Z")
I sat on a park bench and a familiar-looking woman sat down at the other end. As I biked home, I saw a Comedy Club with a sign: “Sarah Sherman from SNL, tonight!” (I should’ve invited her out for local delicacies, like bratwurst…) > [@plastic.com user](#): > > Fuck you. Fuck Cheech and Chong and Fuck anyone else who still thinks that joke is funny Let me guess… that’s someone who started college in the early '70s, and every time they said “Hi, I’m Dave”, EVERY SINGLE PERSON had to say “Dave’s not home, man…” And then guffaw at their own cleverness. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7138 "2023-08-05T22:02:13Z")
I’m pretty sure. [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/l4k4k14a4478zby/Bowman%27s%20not%20here%2C%20man.png?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/l4k4k14a4478zby/Bowman%27s%20not%20here%2C%20man.png?dl=0) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7139 "2023-08-05T22:20:46Z")
Yeah, it’s George Costanza for me. But when I was younger they called me “Radar.” ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7140 "2023-08-05T22:47:43Z")
The platypus has no stomach. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7141 "2023-08-05T23:20:56Z")
The fig isn’t actually a fruit. It’s an “enflorescence”, which means that it’s a structure that’s full of flowers. It has a small opening in it that wasps crawl into, to pollinate the flowers. (I learned this from a novel I just read, narrated in part by a fig tree). ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7142 "2023-08-05T23:39:13Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > the lion costume worn by Bert Lahr in _The Wizard of Oz_ takes the cake. It weighed between 60 and 90 pounds 60 lbs dry weight; 90 after all the sweat. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7143 "2023-08-06T09:01:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The fig isn’t actually a fruit. It’s an “enflorescence”, which means that it’s a structure that’s full of flowers. It has a small opening in it that wasps crawl into, to pollinate the flowers. I heard this before. Also, juniper berries aren’t really berries, but basically miniature pine cones. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7144 "2023-08-06T19:56:12Z")
The deadliest avalanche in the UK… took place pretty much on the South Coast of England (give or take 11 km). > **[Lewes avalanche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewes_avalanche)** > > The Lewes avalanche occurred on 27 December 1836 in Lewes, East Sussex, when a huge build-up of snow on a chalk cliff overlooking the town collapsed into the settlement 100 metres (330 ft) below, destroying a row of cottages and killing eight people. It remains the deadliest avalanche on record in the United Kingdom. > The town of Lewes is about seven miles (eleven kilometres) north of the Sussex coast, on the River Ouse in a gap in the South Downs. Hills rise above Lewes to the east and west,... From the same wiki page: > A public house called the Snowdrop Inn (named in commemoration of the incident) was built in South Street on the site once occupied by Boulder Row, and still trades under the same name today. The white dress being worn by Fanny Boakes when she was rescued was preserved and is now in the Anne of Cleves House museum in Lewes. We walked past the Snowdrop Inn today, and here we are. And that issue with the cliff overlooking the town is something you can’t miss. > **[Snowdrop Inn Lewes • Brighton Beer Blog](https://brightonbeerblog.com/snowdrop-inn-lewes/)** > > Under snow-white cliffs at the far end of Lewes is a charming, craft beer gem Bonus weird fact: this is the _ **Fouth** _ time I’ve posted about Lewes in this thread - that place never disappoints. Oh, yeah, Anne of Cleves House - no, really: > **[Anne of Cleves House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Cleves_House)** > > Anne of Cleves House is a 16th-century timber-framed Wealden hall house located in Lewes, East Sussex, England. It formed part of Queen Anne's annulment settlement from King Henry VIII in 1541, although she never visited the property. It was restored by the architect Walter Godfrey. > Owned and operated as a museum by the Sussex Archaeological Society under the operating name "Sussex Past", it is home to wide-ranging collections of furniture and artefacts of Sussex interest. These include one ... j ---
**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, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7145 "2023-08-06T20:18:56Z")
Bill Dana, the comedian who adopted the José Jiménez persona, wrote perhaps the most famous episode of _All in the Family_, “Sammy’s Visit,” starring Sammy Davis Jr. and the kiss that startled America. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7146 "2023-08-06T22:49:55Z")
[A new species of millipede has been discovered in LA](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ap-us-los-angeles-millipede_n_64c166bae4b053a70093b827). Cue hundreds of jokes about agents, lawyers, publicists… ---
**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:** [August 7, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7147 "2023-08-07T00:40:27Z")
Are micropedes actually smaller than millipedes, or just the legs? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7148 "2023-08-07T04:12:30Z")
There was also one north of Muncie on highway THREEEEE… iykyk ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7149 "2023-08-07T04:42:14Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Is that where the grand juries meet? I’m just getting caught up on this thread, and this comment (about the sign that shows the distances to Ham and Sandwich) is too good to go by without applause. Bravo! I do have my own interesting random fact, which I learned while preventing my cat from murdering a small lizard: the New Mexico whiptail lizard is a female-only species. New individuals are created either by the hybridization of the little striped whiptail and the western whiptail or by parthenogenesis. Only females that have engaged in mating behavior with another female produce eggs, leading some to call them “the lesbian lizard.” They’re the state reptile of New Mexico! ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7150 "2023-08-08T17:25:05Z")
Thanks to @Francis_Vaughan , [today](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-a-radio-receiver-to-find-a-lost-key/988221/5) I learned dolphins can hear audio frequencies that are above 100 kHz. (For reference, most humans can’t hear frequencies much above 20 kHz.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=356) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=358)