# 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:** 366
**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:** [August 23, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7311 "2023-08-23T19:53:53Z")
A pangram with no letters repeated! That is good! Kudos. ETA: Bonus points for me: It mentions the lynx! šŸ™‚ ---
**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 23, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7312 "2023-08-23T19:54:16Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > @hogarth , not many people Iā€™ve met are familiar with serviceberries. > > Interesting, another berry that is no berry at all: it is a [rose.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier) (see post 7174). They look nice, wonder whether I can find one in Europe. Had never heard of them until now. Steady as you go. I had a very confusing exchange with @Chronos about this - what he knows as a (US) serviceberry and what I know as a (UK) serviceberry are completely different things. j ---
**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:** [August 23, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7313 "2023-08-23T19:59:12Z")
Even funnier! I might plant both, side by side, if they can grow in continental climate. Can you elaborate what you and Chonos respectively mean by serviceberries? In the meantime I have found a European serviceberry: _[Amelanchier ovalis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier_ovalis)_. Is that what you mean? The other memebrs of the genus _[Amelanchier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier)_ seem to be American. ---
**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 23, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7314 "2023-08-23T20:01:37Z")
The story starts here: > [@The Foraging And Preserving Thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-foraging-and-preserving-thread/948931/2): > > My momā€™s real big on foraging and preserving, and the combination thereof. She has places for foraging apples, pears, peaches, plums, blackberries, raspberries (both red and black), elderberries, serviceberries, and cherries, and makes jams from all of them, as well as from tomatoes, peppers, and rhubarb that she grows in her garden. Iā€™d like to make especial mention of the serviceberries, because they grow lots of places around here, and theyā€™re delicious, but nobody ever seems to have heardā€¦ j ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7315 "2023-08-23T20:33:06Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz Good olā€™ [abkadefghimnopquerstuvwyckiz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPNxAqSohG0)! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**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:** [August 23, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7316 "2023-08-23T20:37:44Z")
Nice thread, bookmarked. I copy what I just wrote there, as it may be interesting for some: A brief excursion into the realm of terminology: What you call marmalade we call marmalade too in other European languages (vocals may vary: mermelada in Spanish, Marmelade in German and so on). Its origin is Portugese, the word [_marmeleiro_](https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmeleiro) means quince, the fruit you can not eat raw. It is a good name for the preserves, I believe, it may have been the original fruit that was boiled with sugar to make it edible. But quinces are not citrus fruits, and so the rest of the world calls any preserve boiled with sugar marmalade, while when you say marmalade in English you mean orange, lime, lemonā€¦ but no berries. That you call jam. Other languages donā€™t distinguish between jam and marmalade. And then there are jellies and [compote](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compote) and what is called Apfelmus (or Apfelkompott or Apfelbrei) in German you call [apple sauce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_sauce) - coming back the quinces, they belong to the apple family. There are probably even more words for those recipes which are basically the same, people pay atention to those details when it comes to cooking and eating. (That all started writing about [onion confit](https://honestcooking.com/make-onion-confit/), which is also a kind of preserve) ---
**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 23, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7317 "2023-08-23T21:04:19Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > A pangram with no letters repeated! That is good! Kudos. I think I saw it in ā€œGamesā€ magazine. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7318 "2023-08-23T21:12:46Z")
> [@](#): > > ā€¦blackberries, raspberries (both red and black),ā€¦ Wait, is there a difference between blackberries and black raspberries? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7319 "2023-08-23T21:15:30Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Nope, never even tried touch-typing. But I remember old manual typewriters with old ribbons that took a lot of effort, and thinking I could never get that much force with my little finger. No foolinā€™. The typewriter we had at home was a cast iron Underwood upright. Not only did it take effort, the buttons (keys) were small and if your finger slipped off of one, youā€™d get your finger scraped by the buttonā€™s flange as you drew it out of the innards. ---
**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 23, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7320 "2023-08-23T21:23:09Z")
Thatā€™s me quoting @Chronos. Canā€™t help you there, Iā€™m afraid. j ---
**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:** [August 23, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7321 "2023-08-23T21:32:56Z")
I know, thatā€™s why I took your name out of the quote tag. This thread has already had some berry experts posting, so I was hoping one of them might weigh in. ---
**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 23, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7322 "2023-08-23T21:39:44Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > You all might have known this before, but today I stumbled across why we call Mach 1 traveling at the the speed of sound. And Mach 2, twice that speed, etc. > > > The use and name of Mach numbers was proposed by Swiss engineer Jakob Ackeret in 1929. Ackeret named the term Mach **after the physicist Ernst Mach** , Moreover, Mach numbers are for aerodynamic purposes more pertinent than absolute air speed, since the speed of sound varies by temperature, pressure, etc. ---
**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 23, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7323 "2023-08-23T22:37:00Z")
Blackberries are completely different from black raspberries, yes. The flavors are different, and theyā€™re also shaped differently: Pull a raspberry (of any color) off of the bush, and there will be a deep indentation in the berry-cluster where the stem was attached. Blackberries donā€™t have that. And since @Pardel-Lux started on the different sorts of canned fruits: Jam is made from solid fruit, while jelly is made from fruit juice. What Americans call marmalade could be considered a subset of jam, but it also includes at least some zest (the outer rind of a citrus fruit). All of them collectively can be called ā€œpreservesā€. And my family doesnā€™t make compote, so Iā€™m not entirely sure about that, but I think that it has larger chunks of fruit than jam does. Applesauce isnā€™t quite in the same category-- Itā€™s basically just pureed apples. But if you take applesauce and cook it long and slow, to boil off most of the water, then you get something more concentrated called apple butter, which is used in the same way as jelly or jam. You donā€™t even need to add any extra sugar, though of course most American store-bought apple butter does. Applesauce and apple butter also often have cinnamon or other spices added, but thatā€™s not necessary, either. You can also make butters out of other apple-like fruits, like pears or quince. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7324 "2023-08-23T22:38:36Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Good olā€™ [abkadefghimnopquerstuvwyckiz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPNxAqSohG0)! Hey, I know that guy! Big Slavic guy from the Detroit area. Cool dude. ---
**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 23, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7325 "2023-08-23T22:39:38Z")
A Slavic guy with five vowels in his name? No way. ---
**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 24, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7326 "2023-08-24T00:04:49Z")
Eight vowels. Nine if you count ā€œyā€. The classic book on pangrams and other fun stuff is Dmitri A. Borgmannā€™s _Language on vacation: An olio of orthographical oddities_. Sadly, it appears to be an expensive rarity on the used market. Much cheaper is Gyles Brandrethā€™s _The Joy of Lex: An Amazing and Amusing Z to A and A to Z of Words_. They both did sequels. English is bottomless. And Dmitri A. Borgmann plus Gyles Brandreth is almost a pangram. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7327 "2023-08-24T01:39:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The fig isnā€™t actually a fruit. Itā€™s an ā€œenflorescenceā€, which means that itā€™s a structure thatā€™s full of flowers. It has a small opening in it that wasps crawl into, to pollinate the flowers. The shudder-inducing part is the wasps donā€™t crawl out again. The female wasp is partially dismembered by the arduous crawl into the fig, usually losing her wings and antennae in the process. She lays eggs inside the fig and then dies there. The eggs hatch, the offspring mate with each other, and then they chew a tunnel to the outside world through which the impregnated females escape to find another fig to die in. The male wasps die inside the fig like their mother did. Supposedly the figā€™s enzymes dissolve the wasps, so there arenā€™t any wasps or wasp parts remaining in ripe edible figs. But I still canā€™t bring myself to eat figs since I learned about fig wasps. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7328 "2023-08-24T02:54:09Z")
Deer eats live bird. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQOQdBLHrLk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQOQdBLHrLk) ---
**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:** [August 24, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7329 "2023-08-24T03:14:53Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Supposedly the figā€™s enzymes dissolve the wasps, so there arenā€™t any wasps or wasp parts remaining in ripe edible figs. But I still canā€™t bring myself to eat figs since I learned about fig wasps. Do the wasp parts get filtered out before the fig fulfills its destiny of becoming a newton? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7330 "2023-08-24T05:45:52Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Do the wasp parts get filtered out before the fig fulfills its destiny of becoming a newton? All the wasp figs go straight to Nabisco at a steep discount. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=365) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=367)