# 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:** 397
**Author:** ![Hurrilon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@Hurrilon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hurrilon)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7931 "2023-10-31T01:05:54Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Vermont Republic I just learned something new! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7932 "2023-10-31T12:48:50Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Originally, the blood types were A, B, AB, and zero. That’s a numeral “0”, not a capital letter “O”. It means the absence of A or B; it means “nothing”. If so, it’s one more example of how a word changes its pronunciation due to its spelling. Other cases are “falcon” (Humphrey Bogart pronounced it as “fawcon”), “comfortable” (originally three syllables), and “victuals” (pronounced “vittles”). ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7933 "2023-10-31T14:06:05Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > If so, it’s one more example of how a word changes its pronunciation due to its spelling. Other cases are “falcon” (Humphrey Bogart pronounced it as “fawcon”), “comfortable” (originally three syllables), and “victuals” (pronounced “vittles”). Which one of these has changed, and to what? I think I still say fawkin, kumftibil and vittles. Am I hopelessly old fashioned? ---
**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:** [October 31, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7934 "2023-10-31T14:21:46Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I think I still say fawkin, kumftibil and vittles. Am I hopelessly old fashioned? Around here, we say “falcon” more like “fowl-kin” (without so much of the “w” but with the shorter vowel). “Vittles” is quaint and old fashioned, I almost never hear it uttered. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7935 "2023-10-31T14:48:52Z")
[‘Victuals’ came up in this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-you-can-tell-a-restaurant-is-about-to-die/698379/32) after a pun by @KarlGauss. It may have always been pronounced as ‘vittles’ from an origin in Middle French as _vitail_. It’s rarely heard now aside from the Beverly Hillbillies. Many people may never have heard it’s actual pronunciation or assumed incorrectly it was a hillbilly variant that would be properly pronounced phonetically. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7936 "2023-10-31T14:52:45Z")
The word “victuals” is used about one-tenth as much as it to be. I never use it. > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=victuals&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3)** > > Google Books Ngram Viewer ---
**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:** [October 31, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7937 "2023-10-31T15:04:01Z")
I love that the Ngram has a peak in the mid-'60s, thanks to Granny Clampett. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7938 "2023-10-31T18:58:51Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Many people…assumed incorrectly it was a hillbilly variant that would be properly pronounced phonetically. ✋🏼 (In my first job out of school, my boss would say that he was going to get “victuals” when he went for lunch. He took it from Granny of Hillbilly fame. But I just assumed that was the redneck pronunciation of a word I’d only read). ---
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7939 "2023-10-31T19:06:48Z")
My only other exposure to the word was with Tender Vittles cat food (kinda sorta maybe) ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7940 "2023-10-31T19:41:42Z")
Vittles! As a little kid, I must have been watching too many Westerns. One time went into the kitchen asking “What kind of Grub do we got goin’ on for tonight, Ma?” Once. LOL ---
**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:** [October 31, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7941 "2023-10-31T20:24:02Z")
Candy corn was first popularized by the company we now know as Jelly Belly – in 1898. > **[Candy Corn Hasn't Changed Since the 19th Century](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/candy-corn-hasnt-changed-19th-century-180957107/)** > > The Halloween sweet was invented in the 1880s ---
**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:** [October 31, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7942 "2023-10-31T21:15:57Z")
I guess I never realized that “popularized” is a synonym for “made infamous”. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7943 "2023-10-31T21:22:37Z")
[Off Topic] I’ve wanted to mention for a long time that this is one of the greatest SDMB threads ever. I’ve had it bookmarked since the beginning in 2020, and I manually ported it in the transition from the old boards when the thread was still young. I have learned so many interesting things in this thread, from every subject and area imaginable, and isn’t that was this board is all about? So, good people of the SDMB, don’t ever let this thread die. (though we’re going strong towards 10k posts and surely will have a follow-up thread in the future) [/OT] ---
**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:** [October 31, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7944 "2023-10-31T21:41:09Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I guess I never realized that “popularized” is a synonym for “made infamous”. Well, they didn’t create the things. A company in Philadelphia was responsible for that. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2023, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7945 "2023-10-31T22:46:33Z")
I like candy corn, at least the premium brands like Brach’s. Not as good if it’s a cheap generic or stale. But they’re like Circus Peanuts- barely disguised pure sugar, when you’re in the mood for such. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7946 "2023-10-31T23:05:55Z")
Is the word “victual” related to “vital”? Like food or drink that is vital to live? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7947 "2023-10-31T23:20:28Z")
It may taste Candy Corn hasn’t changed, but in fact they make a new batch each year. It actually tastes that way when it’s fresh. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7948 "2023-10-31T23:24:44Z")
I’m pretty sure that they make them throughout the year but increase production for Halloween time. They have them in the Jelly Belly bulk bins all year long. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7949 "2023-10-31T23:35:18Z")
Yes. ‘Vital’ originates with Latin _vitalis_, ‘life’. ‘Victual’ from the related Latin _vivere_, to live. Other words like ‘vivid’ and ‘survive’ are related as well. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7950 "2023-11-01T00:22:10Z")
My aunt once got her holidays mixed up and put candycorn in the fruitcake. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=396) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=398)