# 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:** 486
**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:** [June 17, 2024, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9713 "2024-06-17T13:49:20Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > For the longest time I thought fava beans were another name for chickpeas. TIL that “_faba_” is Latin for “bean”, so “fava bean” is rather like saying “bean bean”. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2024, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9714 "2024-06-17T13:55:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > They look more like lima beans. Though I’ve never had them, so I can’t comment on the taste. I hate lima beans but don’t really know what fava beans taste like either. I may have some in soup but didn’t notice. I would have noticed if they taste anything like lima beans which are the worst tasting food or non-food substance in the multiverse. > [@Chronos](#): > > I do have one in my wallet, though, because that’s apparently an Italian good luck practice. IMO Good luck that it’s in your wallet and not your mouth. Dried fava beans seem to last forever, not gonna mess up your wallet. I used to go to a deli with baskets of dried beans around the store. Some opinions held the fava bean basket had been filled in the 1950s and not been restocked or needed it since then. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2024, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9715 "2024-06-17T14:20:59Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > TIL that “_faba_” is Latin for “bean”, so “fava bean” is rather like saying “bean bean”. “radish” comes ultimately from latin “Radix” = “root”. Maybe they figured if they were first in line they’d get the generic name. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9716 "2024-06-17T14:27:00Z")
If you dislike redundancy, never eat fava beans and drink chai tea at The La Brea Tar Pits. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9717 "2024-06-17T15:11:19Z")
Or use your PIN number at an ATM machine. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9718 "2024-06-17T15:14:06Z")
Or root for The Los Angeles Angels. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9719 "2024-06-17T15:26:01Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > TIL that “_faba_” is Latin for “bean”, so “fava bean” is rather like saying “bean bean”. The theme for the Mr. Bean tv show was a choir singing, in Latin, “Ecce homo qui est faba.” (Behold the man who is a bean.") ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9720 "2024-06-18T01:11:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I hate lima beans but don’t really know what fava beans taste like either. I think they’re delicious, but I’ve never cooked them myself. If you have a middle-eastern or even Eritrean/Ethiopian restaurant nearby, they might serve _ful_ (or _foul_), a fava bean dip that’s heavenly. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9721 "2024-06-18T01:18:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > George didn’t cut down the cherry tree – he only barked it. I’m not sure if that’s what the painter depicted here or if he didn’t get the memo > **[Parson Weems' Fable - Grant Wood - Google Arts & Culture](https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/parson-weems-fable/SwHq47XAgCz28Q?hl=en&ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.5%2C%22y%22%3A0.5%2C%22z%22%3A9.330545034472042%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A0.986305970149253%2C%22height%22%3A1.875949164313636%7D%7D)** > > Mason Locke Weems (1756–1825), known as Parson Weems, penned the fable of > Washington chopping down his father’s cherry tree. With the rise of fascism > in th... ---
**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:** [June 18, 2024, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9722 "2024-06-18T01:59:13Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I’m not sure if that’s what the painter depicted here or if he didn’t get the memo The tree hasn’t been cut down – you can see that there’s only one cut made into the bark. On the other hand, the tree isn’t fully barked. If you remove the bark from a ring all at the same height, the tree will likely die. Grant Wood;s painting shows a young tree not fully barked, but it fits the definition. Wood is the guy who did this, by the way: > **[American Gothic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gothic#/media/File:Grant_Wood_-_American_Gothic_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)** > > American Gothic is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. A character study of a man and a woman portrayed in front of a home, American Gothic is one of the most famous American paintings of the 20th century, and has been widely parodied in American popular culture. > Wood was inspired to paint what is now known as the American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa, along with "the kind of people \[he\] fancied should live in that house". It depicts a farmer standi... ---
**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:** [June 18, 2024, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9723 "2024-06-18T05:35:01Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > The La Brea Tar Pits. Are they filled with the remains of an etinicity of steppe dwelling people? ---
**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:** [June 18, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9724 "2024-06-18T14:29:18Z")
I’ll look around. It better not taste like lima beans or I’ll be sending you another box of you-know-whats’. There are supposed to be some Ethiopian restaurants here in RI, but the list of the top 10 Ethiopian restaurants in Rhode Island only has 8 entries. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2024, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9725 "2024-06-18T16:41:27Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Are they filled with the remains of an etinicity of steppe dwelling people? Actually, there has been [one human](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Brea_Woman#:~:text=La%20Brea%20Woman%20was%20a,years%20BP%20(Before%20Present).) found in the tar pits. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9726 "2024-06-18T16:50:17Z")
But was she a Tartar? ---
**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:** [June 18, 2024, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9727 "2024-06-18T16:55:19Z")
Extremely unlikely. Would have increased the quip potential, though. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9728 "2024-06-18T17:22:34Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > _ful_ (or _foul_), a fava bean dip that’s heavenly. Sometimes appears on (attempted) English-language menus as Foul Madames, to general hilarity. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9729 "2024-06-18T18:36:14Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > For the longest time I thought fava beans were another name for chickpeas Chickpeas = Garbanzo Beans ---
**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:** [June 18, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9730 "2024-06-18T18:47:09Z")
Garbanzo is Spanish for chickpea. But the funny thing is that in Italian they are called _ceci_, in French _pois chiches_, which is closer to the original Latin _cicer_, which not only gives us the scientific name of the [chickpea (_Cicer arietinum_)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickpea) but also the name of the Roman statesman, lawyer and philosopher Cicero. Some ancestor of his seems to have sported an impressive wart on his nose: > Cicero’s [cognomen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognomen), a hereditary nickname, comes from the Latin for [chickpea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickpea), _cicer_. Plutarch explains that the name was originally given to one of Cicero’s ancestors who had a cleft in the tip of his nose resembling a chickpea The famous family names of Fabius, Lentulus, and Piso come from the Latin names of beans, lentils, and peas, respectively. Plutarch writes that Cicero was urged to change this deprecatory name when he entered politics, but refused, saying that he would make _Cicero_ more glorious than _[Scaurus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aemilius_Scaurus_(consul_115_BC))_ (“Swollen-ankled”) and _[Catulus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catulus)_ (“Puppy”). ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9731 "2024-06-18T19:54:24Z")
The Great Fire of London in 1666 is probably responsible for the man’s suit. And we know the exact date of its beginning too: 6th October 1666. Pepys wrote about King Charles II’s decree in his dairy just weeks after the fire. It was felt that flamboyant dress was responsible for a moral decay which God had punished the Kingdom for. To usher in a period of stability the King decreed that in the English court men would wear a long coat, a waistcoat, a cravat (a precursor of the necktie), knee breeches (trousers), and a hat, with no gaudy colours or extravagant adornments. 18th century gentleman Beau Brummell refined this with fine tailoring and expensive cloth modernising the outfit into something closer to what we know today. I just love the idea that without the Fire of London, men across the world _might_ be wearing completely different outfits in business or in formal events. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9732 "2024-06-18T20:20:49Z")
It’s a safe bet however that whatever the style it would focus more on quality than gaudiness. The industrial revolution made basic cloth dirt cheap so it was no longer the status symbol it had once been. As a result we see a move away from extravagant costumes to plainer designs that focused more on the fineness of the weave and the quality of the thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=485) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=487)