# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785 "2024-07-25T15:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 113
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2241 "2025-04-30T20:52:45Z")
“Cherub” is modern colloquial English means basically the same thing as “putti” - cute baby-faced angel. This is despite the fact that “cherubim” in the Bible were described as doing serious stuff, like guarding the way into Eden with a flaming sword. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2025, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2242 "2025-04-30T23:30:52Z")
Madeline L’Engel was closer to the Biblical mark: Her cherubim (“I’m practically plural”) had way too many eyes, way too many wings, and random spurts of fire. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2243 "2025-04-30T23:58:38Z")
A “putto” is a cherubic angel. A “putta” is a prostitute. (Actually, it’s “puttana” and it really just means “girl” in the same way that “putto” really just means “boy”. But not really.) ---
**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:** [May 1, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2244 "2025-05-01T00:33:27Z")
They’re also sometimes called a Cupid because the Roman god who was Venus’s son was usually depicted as an infant. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2025, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2245 "2025-05-01T11:08:02Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > “Cherub” is modern colloquial English means basically the same thing as “putti” - cute baby-faced angel. This is despite the fact that “cherubim” in the Bible were described as doing serious stuff, like guarding the way into Eden with a flaming sword. As Voltaire pointed out in his _Philosophical Dictionary_, “cherubim” appears to be etymologically derived from a Near Eastern word for “cattle”, and probably originally referred to the man-headed bull creatures guarding the gates of Babylonian cities, prioperly called _Lamassu_. They are often depicted with five legs, but this is actually a clever way of making them appear to be walking if viewed from the side, and standing formally still if viewed from the front. I doubt if they were actually thought to be five-legged. How one would hold a flaming sword, though, I don’t know. Maybe Biblical ones had arms, like a centaur. > **[Lamassu (bull-man) - Livius](https://www.livius.org/articles/mythology/lamassu-bull-man/)** > **[Human-headed winged bull (lamassu) | Assyrian | Neo-Assyrian | The...](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/322608)** > > 1840s, excavated under the direction of Austen Henry Layard; 1849, presented by Layard to Lady Charlotte Guest for Canford Manor, Dorsetshire (Dorset), England; 1919, purchased by Dikran Kelekian from Ivor Churchill Guest; 1927, purchased by 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:** [May 1, 2025, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2246 "2025-05-01T13:05:40Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > What’s also funny is that the first half of your story could have been told from my German perspective if you just replace Severiano Ballesteros with Bernhard Langer It’s interesting how many parallels one can find between Germany and Spain concerning sporting trends related to a new rising star. Ballesteros - Langer for golf. Orantes or Santana - Boris Becker for tennis (later Rafa Nadal, but tennis was alredy popular in Spain then). Michael Schumacher - Fernando Alonso for Formula 1. I had another example before starting this post but it has slipped my mind. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2247 "2025-05-01T13:28:21Z")
Boxers perhaps? Because a similar figure as the ones you mentioned for making a sport rise in popularity in the last 40 years was Henry Maske for boxing. I don’t know a Spanish equivalent, but I have never been that much into boxing so maybe I missed one. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2025, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2248 "2025-05-01T13:31:22Z")
No, boxing is not my cup of tea either. But Induráin and Jan Ullrich are another parallel, though cycling was popular in Spain before Induráin, but with him it went into full crazy mode. In Germany, I believe, not so much. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2025, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2249 "2025-05-01T13:35:07Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > In Germany, I believe, not so much. Ah, cycling is much more my cup of tea than boxing, I’ve been following the Tour de France for almost 50 years. Yeah, you’re right, Jan Ullrich (and his Team Telekom) really started a hype around cycling in Germany, but there already had been Didi Thurau’s legendary Tour of 1977 where he spent 15 days in yellow and won several stages, which at least caused a mini-hype pre-Ullrich. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2250 "2025-05-01T13:47:26Z")
Just realized I can no longer remember how to write; 1 or 1000 or 51 or 6 or even 500, in Roman Numerals! IM LIVID ---
**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:** [May 1, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2251 "2025-05-01T16:52:21Z")
Hey, please be 101,6,50. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2252 "2025-05-01T17:12:11Z")
For those reading and stewing, use this. > **[Roman Numerals Converter](https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/roman-numerals-converter.html?x1=&x2=6)** > > Roman numerals to numbers conversion calculator and how to convert. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2253 "2025-05-01T17:20:12Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > The problem was that the verb _putear_ did already exist, and there was no way to tell that this _putear_ was written with a double “t” (which is not used in Spanish anyway – that would be Italian). Here is the **[definition](https://dle.rae.es/putear)** for putear (in Spanish). Suffice to say that it is not to be used in polite company. Growing up around a lot of Spanish speakers in SoCal, I’m very familiar with the word _puta._ ---
**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:** [May 3, 2025, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2254 "2025-05-03T09:19:32Z")
The Welsh for ‘to iron’ is _smwddio_ (pronounced ‘smooth-io’) ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2255 "2025-05-03T10:47:39Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > So there are no days when Catholics are not allowed to eat beaver? That depends on the period of the Catholic ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2256 "2025-05-04T00:27:34Z")
All 21 horses scheduled to start the 2025 Kentuck Derbe are descendants of “Secretariat” z the 1973 triple crown winner. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2257 "2025-05-04T00:34:09Z")
Sorry - too late to edit. “Kentucky Derby”. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2258 "2025-05-04T00:37:08Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Hey, please be 101,6,50. I think you mean 104,49 ---
**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:** [May 4, 2025, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2259 "2025-05-04T00:44:37Z")
Aren’t nearly all thoroughbreds descendants of Secretariat and a handful of other champions? ---
**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:** [May 4, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2260 "2025-05-04T01:51:59Z")
I considered it, but using that syntax for 49 is nonstandard, so I chose to be conservative. The standard form for 49 is XLIX. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=112) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=114)