# 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:** 408
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8151 "2023-11-16T15:41:30Z")
Sure, but that same argument also leads to “Carolus” being an English name by established (if not recent) usage. That is, it’s not consistent to say “Carolus” is foreign, but “Charles” is not. The English name “Carl” and the German name “Carl” have a common origin. English did not borrow it from German. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8152 "2023-11-16T15:46:13Z")
I don’t know of the earlier history of the name “Carolus/Charles/Carl/Karl”, but I think as a regent’s name it all started with Charlemagne. The French part of his empire called him “Charles”, and the German “Karl”. Isn’t this the origin of all variants of that name in different languages than French and German? ---
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8153 "2023-11-16T15:57:01Z")
The name is common to Germanic languages and then spread to Latin languages. It was a popular name and Charlemagne probably popularized it the most. > **[Charles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles)** > > Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form Charles of the Proto-Germanic name .mw-parser-output .script-runic{font-family:"BabelStone Runic Beagnoth","BabelStone Runic Beorhtnoth","BabelStone Runic Beorhtric","BabelStone Runic Beowulf","BabelStone Runic Berhtwald","BabelStone Runic Byrhtferth",Junicode,Kelvinch,"Free Monospaced",Code2000,Hnias,"Noto Sans Runic","Segoe UI Historic","Segoe UI Symbol","San Francisco", > **[Carl (name)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_(name))** > > Carl is a North Germanic male name meaning "free man". The name originates in Old West Norse. It is the first name of many Kings of Sweden including Carl XVI Gustaf. It is popular in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, and was largely popularized in the United States by Scandinavian and Italian (shortened from "Carlo") descendants. Karl is a Germanic spelling which is very popular in Austria, Estonia, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, and was also popularized by Ger Th... ---
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8154 "2023-11-16T16:11:48Z")
Thanks, very interesting links. I learned that from the Germanic root, the name just means “man” or “free man”. So the German word “Kerl” has almost the same meaning as the name “Karl”. “Kerl” in German means guy, bloke. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8155 "2023-11-16T16:18:14Z")
Also cognate to the English word “churl”. Probably not best to mention that in the King’s presence. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8156 "2023-11-16T16:19:41Z")
Thanks again, “churl” is a word I only learned today. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8157 "2023-11-16T16:21:12Z")
You got to know your Anglo-Saxon to properly insult someone in English. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8158 "2023-11-16T17:05:58Z")
If it’s of any relevance, in the Vivat parts of Parry’s _I Was Glad_ in the Coronation service, they sang “Vivat Rex Carolus” (and Regina Camilla). ---
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8159 "2023-11-16T17:09:45Z")
That far back German, Saxon and Frankish hadn’t diverged as much. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8160 "2023-11-16T19:22:27Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > In _Sleuth_, one of the characters is a famous mystery writer named Andrew Wyke. Like Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot, Wyke has a famous detective featured in his novels; St. John Lord Merridew. That was a deliberate reference to Sir Henry Merrivale, the character invented by John Dickson Carr writing as Carter Dickson. Carr was the gold standard of devising impossible crimes and locked-room murders, which the play was parodying. > [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Admission to the New York World’s Fair of 1939-40 was 75 cents. Back in 1893, admission to the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition, full of serious art and lectures, was 25 cents. Admission to the Midway, where all the fun stuff was to be found, was 50 cents. (The Expo lost money. The Midway made enough money to cover the losses. People don’t change.) ---
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8161 "2023-11-16T20:00:40Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Admission to the Midway, where all the fun stuff was to be found, was 50 cents. The Library of Congress has a map. > **[Souvenir map of the World's Columbian Exposition at Jackson Park and Midway...](https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4104c.ct002834/?r=0.037,0.036,0.177,0.122,0)** > > "Assisted by: D.H. Roberts, H.M. Schnepff, Heinze Bro's.; Draughtsmen, Surveys & Grades Dep't. W.C.E." Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image. Zoom in on the upper left corner for all the fun stuff. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8162 "2023-11-16T20:33:12Z")
They left off H.H. Holmes’ hotel. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8163 "2023-11-16T20:48:14Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Re: new Canadian coins with Charles III on them - We should change the currency here, specifically the reverse images. Instead of the staid pictures of goverment buildings, which became worse beginning in the '90s, there could be historical events or National Park scenery. Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite, or the Apollo 11 launch could work with the note oriented the long way up. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8164 "2023-11-17T00:15:10Z")
They’ve just discovered [how hummingbirds fly through narrow gaps](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2401528-hummingbirds-have-two-amazing-ways-to-fly-through-tiny-gaps/). Either flying slowly sideways, or by folding their wings and darting through like a spear. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8165 "2023-11-17T01:42:57Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > folding their wings and darting through like a spear. Now that is cool. The bird is basically coasting through the opening. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8166 "2023-11-17T01:54:05Z")
How did AI help? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8167 "2023-11-17T02:08:29Z")
As of right now and for at least the next couple of months, it gets dark as early in San Diego as it does in Eugene, give or take a minute or two. If you count the fact that twilight is shorter the closer to the equator you go, it gets dark even a little earlier. This came up when someone I know who lives in San Diego was complaining about the dark evenings. I was about to ask what he had to complain about, but I thought it would be a good idea to check [timeandate.com](http://timeandate.com) first. Though the day length down there is almost an hour longer than it is here, the extra daylight time all comes in the morning. It’s all about the longitude as well as the latitude. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8168 "2023-11-17T02:14:43Z")
Not at all AFAICS … ?!? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8169 "2023-11-17T06:07:30Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > …The Scots claimed since Elizabeth I was never Queen of the Scots that Elizabeth was legally Elizabeth II and I or at the very least the cypher should stand for Elizabeth I on Scottish postboxes. The court ruled that as part of their regnal name, the monarch can use whatever ordinal they feel is appropriate. Didn’t that end up as, the monarch uses the _highest_ ordinal number they may have? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8170 "2023-11-17T06:21:12Z")
Chris Pine of _Star Trek_ and _Dungeons and Dragons_ fame is the son of Robert Pine, who played Sgt. Getraer on _CHiPs_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=407) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=409)