# 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:** 133
**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:** [June 11, 2025, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2641 "2025-06-11T11:59:02Z")
Talk about scraping a living. ---
**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 11, 2025, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2642 "2025-06-11T13:54:24Z")
London Underground trains had a sort of anti-blast netting stuck to the windows, and frustrated passengers took to picking bits of it away. TPTB had a cartoon character dishing out safety advice (rather patronising) in verse: _I trust you’ll pardon my correction-_ _That stuff is there for your protection_ To which some wag added: _Thank you for that information_ _But we want to see the bloody station_ ---
**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:** [June 16, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2643 "2025-06-16T16:34:11Z")
The French term for Sunfish is Poisson-Lune (moon fish). (I also discovered that it’s the largest of the bony fishes. Thank you wiki. ) j ---
**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:** [June 16, 2025, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2644 "2025-06-16T16:38:05Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > The French term for Sunfish is Poisson-Lune (moon fish). Same in German, “Mondfisch”. ETA: and I didn’t know that it’s called sunfish in English. So thanks, @Treppenwitz! ---
**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 16, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2645 "2025-06-16T16:54:06Z")
And **[pez luna](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mola_mola)** in Spanish, so also a moon fisch. _Mola mola_ in scientific latin, one more with a double name! I once saw one stuffed in the Natural Sciences Museum in Madrid as a kid. It was enormous! ---
**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:** [June 16, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2646 "2025-06-16T17:09:18Z")
I now feel the need to google translate my way through many languages on this one…. (Maybe later) 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:** [June 16, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2647 "2025-06-16T17:11:34Z")
The Spanish wiki has already done that for you: > **[Mola mola | Etimología](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mola_mola#Etimolog%C3%ADa)** > > La mayoría de los nombres comunes aplicados a esta especie a lo largo de todo el mundo hacen referencia a su característica forma aplastada y redondeada. El nombre científico de la especie, mola, significa en latín «muela, piedra de molino», debido a su color gris, textura áspera y cuerpo redondeado. El nombre común en español y en otros idiomas como el neerlandés (maanvis), el portugués (peixe lua), el francés (poisson lune), el alemán (Mondfisch) o el ruso (рыба-луна) es «pez luna», en referenc... ETA: _Moon_ beats _Sun_ by plenty to one (English). ETA Again: the English wiki also covers this: > **[Ocean sunfish | Naming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_sunfish#Naming)** > > Its common English name, sunfish, refers to the animal's habit of sunbathing at the surface of the sea.\[citation needed\] Its common names in Dutch, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Russian, Greek, Hungarian, Norwegian, and German (maanvis, peixe lua, Poisson lune, pez luna, peix lluna, Pesce luna, рыба-луна, φεγγαρόψαρο, holdhal, månefisk and Mondfisch, respectively) mean "moon fish", in reference to its rounded shape. In German, the fish is also known as Schwimmender Kopf, or "swim... ---
**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:** [June 16, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2648 "2025-06-16T17:12:50Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > (I also discovered that it’s the largest of the bony fishes. Thank you wiki. ) That’s definitely referring to a different species than what I call “sunfish”, then. The sunfish I know is a freshwater fish about the size of a person’s hand. ---
**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 16, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2649 "2025-06-16T17:14:21Z")
Check this: > **[Ocean sunfish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_sunfish)** > > The ocean sunfish (Mola mola), also known as the common mola, is one of the largest bony fish in the world. It is the type species of the genus Mola, and one of five extant species in the family Molidae. It was once misidentified as the heaviest bony fish, which was actually a different and closely related species of sunfish, Mola alexandrini. Adults typically weigh between 247 and 1,000 kg (545 and 2,205 lb). It is native to tropical and temperate waters around the world. It resembles a Many a... ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2650 "2025-06-16T17:14:42Z")
yes, species roses have five petals generally speaking. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2651 "2025-06-16T17:47:13Z")
Speaking of “roses,” while most members of animal “families” have some physical similarities, definitely not necessarily the case with plants. [Edible members](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosaceae) of the “rose” family include apples, pears, plums, peaches, almonds, blackberries, strawberries, and a ton more. ---
**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 16, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2652 "2025-06-16T18:17:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s definitely referring to a different species than what I call “sunfish”, then. The sunfish I know is a freshwater fish about the size of a person’s hand. Often called ‘sunnies’ or ‘crappies’ they may resemble the Ocean Sunfish in shape but the size difference is enormous. They’re also many varieties of freshwater fish that don’t have the same body shape but also called Sunfish. The name may come because they’re often seen in the sunlight close to the surface in shallow still water lakes and river waters. It’s a pretty informal name so the origins could be lost in time. I heard once of a Congo Perch (Nile Perch) being called a Sunfish, they are huge but I haven’t seen a picture of one with the round shape associated with the Ocean or Freshwater varieties. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2653 "2025-06-16T18:31:26Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > [Edible members](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosaceae) of the “rose” family include apples, pears, plums, peaches, almonds, blackberries, strawberries, and a ton more. Wait, the pommes and the drupes are both in the same family? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2025, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2654 "2025-06-16T18:56:03Z")
The term rose refers to a genus. There are over 300 species under that genus. There are over ten thousand cultivars under those species. (A cultivar is the grouping below species.) Above a genus, the grouping is called a tribe. Above a tribe, the gruuping is called a subfamily. Above a subfamily, the grouping is called a family. Above a family, the grouping is called an order. Above an order, the grouping is called a clade. Above a clade, the grouping is called a kingdom. Not surprisingly, knowing the complete grouping of any living being on Earth is hopelessly messy. ---
**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 16, 2025, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2655 "2025-06-16T18:57:58Z")
And of course it’s not an exact science because nature doesn’t present us with clean boundaries, leading to lumping vs. splitting debates. ---
**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 16, 2025, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2656 "2025-06-16T19:13:47Z")
Which, of course, have nothing to do with your boardname. ---
**Author:** ![motu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/motu/32/259_2.png) [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2657 "2025-06-16T20:02:00Z")
TIL a Super Group, “The Best” did four dates in Japan and one in Hawaii in 1990. Started as the unofficial house band for LA’s China Club, it consisted of Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, John Entwistle, Joe Walsh, Keith Emerson and Simon Phillips (drummer for Jeff Beck Group/Toto). A tour of the US was planned but never happened. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2025, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2658 "2025-06-16T20:10:02Z")
> [@motu](#): > > Started as the unofficial house band for LA’s China Club, it consisted of Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, John Entwistle, Joe Walsh, Keith Emerson and Simon Phillips Wow! I would have paid serious money to see them play. ---
**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 16, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2659 "2025-06-16T20:12:35Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Which, of course, have nothing to do with your boardname․ For those who don’t know it’s short for Lumpenprole, the Marxist term for vagrants and indigents who are too alienated from society to have any class consciousness. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2660 "2025-06-16T20:42:10Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Above an order, the grouping is called a clade. A clade can be a grouping at any level. It’s a grouping of all of the organisms that share some common ancestor. If the common ancestor is very recent, it’s a very low-level group. If it’s a very distant ancestor, then it’s a very high-level group. Clades are usually specified using two species, as in “The most recent common ancestor of a sparrow and a triceratops, and all of the species descended from that ancestor”. And there can be as many different levels as you want. When I was in school, the standard ones were kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species, but sometimes it’s convenient to slice things more finely than that, so you get things like subclasses and superorders. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=132) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=134)