# 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:** 185
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3681 "2025-11-25T12:50:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What about Einbahnstraße? My dad told me that when he visited Germany, he saw streets named that all over the place. 😛 In his **The Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need** Dave Barry remarked that he and his wife, vacationing in Germany, kept saying to each other “We’re on _Einbahnstrasse_ again!” until they finally figured out that it meant “One Way Street” ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3682 "2025-11-25T15:25:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Dave Barry remarked that he and his wife, vacationing in Germany, kept saying to each other “We’re on _Einbahnstrasse_ again!” until they finally figured out that it meant “One Way Street” I’m embarrassed to say that @Chronos’ joke went straight over my head. Hmmm. But here’s not a bad place to observe that _voie sans issue_ is the French for _cul de sac_. Always makes me smile. 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:** [November 25, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3683 "2025-11-25T15:41:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > What about Einbahnstraße? My dad told me that when he visited Germany, he saw streets named that all over the place. 😛 > > In his **The Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need** Dave Barry remarked that he and his wife, vacationing in Germany, kept saying to each other “We’re on _Einbahnstrasse_ again!” until they finally figured out that it meant “One Way Street” There’s a clue: the sign for Einbahnstraße always has an arrow that points to the allowed direction. [![](https://deutscher-digitaldrucker.de/shopx/1671-thickbox_default/einbahnstrasse-verkehrsschild-verkehrszeichen.jpg) ](https://deutscher-digitaldrucker.de/shopx/1671-thickbox_default/einbahnstrasse-verkehrsschild-verkehrszeichen.jpg) ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3684 "2025-11-25T15:46:31Z")
But no matter how many arrows you follow you still can’t find that street. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3685 "2025-11-25T16:59:57Z")
I knew that cattle horns were hollow, but didn’t know that they are connected to the frontal sinus in the nasal cavity. Sometimes cattle with sinus infections are treated by flushing antibiotics from a hole in the horn and out the nose. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3686 "2025-11-25T18:05:14Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > _voie sans issue_ is the French for _cul de sac_. And English for "cul de sac\* is Bag End. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3687 "2025-11-25T19:11:37Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > But here’s not a bad place to observe that _voie sans issue_ is the French for _cul de sac_. Always makes me smile. To be precise, there are three expressions for dead-end street in French: **impasse** , **cul-de-sac** and **voie sans issue**. And probably some regionalisms on top of that. English offers even more possibilities: **dead end** , _ **cul-de-sac** _, **no outlet road** , **no-through road** and **no-exit road**. Cul-de-sac is in italics because it is a loanword. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > But no matter how many arrows you follow you still can’t find that street. But add a tiny little “se” and you get the railwaystreet (Eisenbahnstraße). Easy to find, just follow the tracks, no need for arrows. 😉 ---
**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 25, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3688 "2025-11-25T19:42:41Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > > But no matter how many arrows you follow you still can’t find that street. > > But add a tiny little “se” and you get the railwaystreet (Eisenbahnstraße). Easy to find, just follow the tracks, no need for arrows. 😉 Now I’m picturing a desperate tourist in a rented car in a city like Berlin or Hamburg looking for “Eisenbahnstraße” but following every sign of “Einbahnstraße”. It will drive them mad. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3689 "2025-11-25T19:49:21Z")
Ah, if I could only insert that into the code of those self-driving cars that are just around the corner! 🤣 But I am afraid it is Waymo complicated than I imagine. Waymo pun stolen from this week’s Economist, the around the corner pun is mine. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3690 "2025-11-25T20:43:43Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > To be precise, there are three expressions for dead-end street in French: **impasse** , **cul-de-sac** and **voie sans issue**. Agreed, but _voie sans issue_ is the usual one in French (we spend a lot of time there). (To be faire, _cul de sac_ is somewhat archaic in British English. Street signs round here are typically wordless, with just the barred road symbol.) 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:** [November 25, 2025, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3691 "2025-11-25T20:54:36Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > (To be faire, _cul de sac_ is somewhat archaic in British English. Street signs round here are typically wordless, with just the barred road symbol.) Is it like the German sign? [![](https://baustellenabsicherung24.de/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/V/Z/VZ_357_Sackgasse.jpg) ](https://baustellenabsicherung24.de/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/V/Z/VZ_357_Sackgasse.jpg) By the way, the German word for cul-de-sac or dead end street is “Sackgasse”, which is a funny word. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3692 "2025-11-25T21:48:19Z")
Yep, that’s the sign. j ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3693 "2025-11-25T23:34:57Z")
Our Montreal street had a sign reading “Rue sans issue”, “Blind street”. Now it simply reads “Cul-de-sac”. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3694 "2025-11-25T23:53:38Z")
They didn’t have to say it twice, once for French and once for English? ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3695 "2025-11-25T23:56:55Z")
I think that rule is only for the non-Quebec parts of Canada. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2025, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3696 "2025-11-26T00:04:17Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Indeed, as you can see in the ordering of letters in the dictionary. The accent does not change the ordering sequence, there is no separate chapter for e and é, while the ñ has its own chapter. > ETA: This diacritic sign ⟨ **~** ⟩ is in turn called a **[tilde](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilde)**. similar to L … and LL - which is a different thing in spanish Logotipo … (pronounced: logotipo 😉 ) Llama (pronounced: yahma) ---
**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:** [November 26, 2025, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3697 "2025-11-26T00:08:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Of course, many languages (including English) have examples of words with alternate spellings, and even of spellings which are considered correct in some contexts but not others. And English also has cases where proper orthography differs between handwriting and type: For instance, titles of complete works should be in italics, in formats which allow for that, but since handwritten italics are very difficult to distinguish, underlined then. isn’t “learned” and “learnt” such a thing? … both being correct, or is that an american-british (color/colour) thing? ---
**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 26, 2025, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3698 "2025-11-26T01:48:59Z")
Mostly, it used to be that learnt with British but learned was American (and apparently also Canadian). But American usages are taking over many British usages and learned is one of them. If there were a British version of the Dope, many threads of the highest dudgeon would be launched against such heresy. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2025, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3699 "2025-11-26T05:44:50Z")
The funny thing is, in many cases US English is actually retaining an older form which has changed in British English. So the Brits are often the ones who are corrupting the pristine traditional language being kept pure by Americans. That’s not quite the case with learned/learnt, although the form with -d is indeed actually older. The -d form was used in Old English and Middle English. The form with -t didn’t appear until the 1500s. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3700 "2025-11-26T07:47:53Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > “Stove” to mean what you cook on is a chiefly American Stove, to me, a Zimbabwean with a British heritage, is a combination of oven and hot plates. The word “stove” refers to the entire ensemble, but can also refer to just the oven part. It does not mean the thing you cook “on” but more the thing you cook “in”. EtA, did not notice how far, far behind the conversation I was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=184) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=186)