# 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:** 166
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3301 "2025-10-08T13:40:41Z")
Me too. (Annoyed by it, not having multilingual children) ---
**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:** [October 8, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3302 "2025-10-08T13:50:28Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > It’s also easier to read the spine top down when the book is on a book shelf But you can always do that: you either tilt your head to the right or to the left depending on the book. The funny movement is the alternate tilting left - right - left - right when the books are not sorted by language. Or when, like the French books in the picture above, they are printed both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3303 "2025-10-08T13:53:03Z")
I think books in Spanish are written both ways too, I have vivid memories of doing neck exercises in the bookstore (as you say: tilt left - tilt right - tilt left) and all the books were in Spanish. ---
**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 8, 2025, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3304 "2025-10-08T13:58:42Z")
The general rule for English text direction is first left to right and then top to bottom. Thus spines, without left to right extent, are written top to bottom. It is very interesting indeed that other languages either don’t have the top to bottom rule or override it in the specific case of spines. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3305 "2025-10-08T14:15:07Z")
Spanish: both ways [![](https://i.postimg.cc/FsSTXXxn/20251008-155426.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/FsSTXXxn/20251008-155426.jpg) Catalan: mostly bottom to top, but some are the other way around [![](https://i.postimg.cc/FsSTXXx2/20251008-155606.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/FsSTXXx2/20251008-155606.jpg) Italian: mostly top to bottom, but some are the other way around [![](https://i.postimg.cc/YqFdBBx5/20251008-155657.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/YqFdBBx5/20251008-155657.jpg) French: mostly bottom to top, but some are the other way around [![](https://i.postimg.cc/dtC5cc9g/20251008-155839.jpg) ](https://i.postimg.cc/dtC5cc9g/20251008-155839.jpg) German: bottom to top English: top to bottom This may be the reason I had not noticed the regularity. There is not so much of it in my shelfs. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3306 "2025-10-08T17:17:27Z")
I had a book of mine translated into French, Spanish, Polish, and Slovakian. Only the Slovakian used the American style. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3307 "2025-10-08T18:53:57Z")
IMHO, it’s the responsibility of the person asking the question to ensure that there is no ambiguity in the question. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3308 "2025-10-08T20:34:57Z")
I have the book **Winnie ille Pu** ---
**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 8, 2025, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3309 "2025-10-08T23:16:06Z")
Those are all the books, or just small snapshots of longer rows of books? Whatever the case, it doesn’t seem anyone is too religious about their choice. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3310 "2025-10-08T23:44:27Z")
Religious? [I had no need of that hypothesis.](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/353590-author-napoleon-210910-when-hearing-about-author-laplace-324846-s-latest-book-said-m-au) ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3311 "2025-10-09T00:01:16Z")
Consider a trilogy, say, of books, sitting flat in a stack on a desk. In what order should they be stacked? I would put The Return of the King on the bottom, then The Two Towers on top of that, and The Fellowship of the Ring on top of the whole stack. This puts the last page of Fellowship right next to the first page of Towers, and the last page of Towers next to the first page of King, same as they would be if all three were published in one volume. But now take those same three books, and put them on a bookshelf. They’ll now be in reverse order. Put them in order from left to right, and now the first page of Fellowship is next to the last page of Towers, and the first page of Towers is next to the last page of King. And I thought when I started typing this post that this had some relation to the two different ways of writing titles on the spines, but now that I typed it all out and think about it, I think that you get this problem with both the American and European styles. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3312 "2025-10-09T08:14:01Z")
Problem solved… [![](https://www.cognitionandculture.net/wp-content/uploads/Spines-Freud.jpg) ](https://www.cognitionandculture.net/wp-content/uploads/Spines-Freud.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2025, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3313 "2025-10-10T10:27:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The third gorgon, Stheno, has a name that means “powerful” I’m guessing this explains the name of a disease that means “severely weak muscles”: > **[Myasthenia gravis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myasthenia_gravis)** > > Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a long-term neuromuscular junction disease that leads to varying degrees of skeletal muscle weakness. The most commonly affected muscles are those of the eyes, face, and swallowing. It can result in double vision, drooping eyelids, and difficulties in talking and walking. Onset can be sudden. Those affected often have a large thymus or develop a thymoma. > Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease of the neuromuscular junction which results from antibodies that block o... ---
**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:** [October 10, 2025, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3314 "2025-10-10T12:21:04Z")
Indeed: **Asthenia** or **asthaenia** , from Greek ἀσθένεια, is composed of _α_ [_a_] —negating alfa—: “lack”, and _σθένος_ [_sthénos]:_ “stregth”, “power”, literally _lack of strength_ and also _disease_. In the special case of myasthenia the Greek praefix μῦς (mys) means muscle, so it describes muscular weakness. _Gravis_ makes this even worse. This _mys_ is cognate to the latin _musculus_, also meaning muscle, and through Linnaeus gave us the Latin names of the house mouse, _[mus musculus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_mouse)_, and the blue whale, _[Balaenoptera musculus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_whale)_ ---
**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:** [October 10, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3315 "2025-10-10T12:55:26Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Latin names of the house mouse, _[mus musculus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_mouse)_, _Parturiunt montes, et nascetur ridiculus mus._ Useful insult for a disappointing outcome of lots of effort/fuss/fanfare ---
**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 10, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3316 "2025-10-10T15:50:48Z")
I was musing on “ring”, and whether the noun preceded the verb. The noun seems to go all the way back to PIE, but it looks as though the verb may as well. I guess a bell (which is circular, like a ring) makes a sound that goes out evenly in all directions. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3317 "2025-10-11T11:49:32Z")
According to this (generally reliable) source, these are two, unrelated words: > **[Ring - Etymology, Origin & Meaning](https://www.etymonline.com/word/ring#etymonline_v_15082)** > > Originating from Old English "hring" (circle, metal circlet) and "hringan" (to sound a bell), ring means a circular band and the resonant sound it makes. …but associations like the one you mentioned are sometimes the sorts of things that help solidify two look-alike words, via folk etymology. It’s cool that the PIE root of “ring” as a circular object also gives us “circle” and “curve,”. Sker \> skring \> hring \> ring versus sker \> ker \> circle, curve ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2025, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3318 "2025-10-11T12:14:38Z")
More on this: One of the few words in any IE language that preserves the original “s” in PIE “sker” is “shrine,” originally meaning a reliquary or jewel-box, which must derived from a curved or roughly circular container. (Like a Shriner’s hat! 🙂) ---
**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:** [October 12, 2025, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3319 "2025-10-12T02:55:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Since I literally wrote the book on the subject - _Robots in American Popular Culture_ - I get to say, not by a long shot. I remember now; there was a 19th century story in which a man was accidentally “danced to death” by a mechanical woman. He had a pre-existing heart problem as I recall. Does that ring a bell? I thought it was in an Anthony Trollope novel, but I can’t find it in the novel where I thought it was. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2025, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3320 "2025-10-12T03:08:35Z")
That was English humorist Jerome K. Jerome. It appeared in the March 1893 issue of _The Idler_ and later was incorporated into his book/collection _[Novel Notes](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2037)_. It’s title shifted over appearances but now is known as “The Dancing Partner.” However, that clockwork automaton was a male and a woman was his victim, because the inventor forgot to give the automaton an off switch. I suppose someone could have switched the sexes as a follow-up - hack writers have always existed - but more likely your memory is faulty. You can check at the link I gave. If someone knows of your version, of course I’d like to be corrected. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=165) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=167)