# 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:** 224
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4461 "2026-04-07T00:19:00Z")
Today I learned that Charles Schulz, the creator of Snoopy, Charlie Brown and their crew, had the nickname _Sparky_. He was born in 1922, which was also the debut of Spark Plug, a bow legged race horse in the comic _Barney Google and Snuffy Smith_. The comic has been called the “Snoopy of its time”. Spark Plug was a bit of a cultural phenomenon. Shulz was nicknamed after the character. > [@](#): > > Beginning on July 17, 1922, the strip took a momentous turn in popularity with the seemingly innocuous introduction of an endearing race horse named “Spark Plug”. Barney’s beloved “brown-eyed baby” was a bow-legged nag that seldom raced, and was typically seen almost totally covered by his trademark patched blanket with his name scrawled on the side. _[Peanuts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanuts "Peanuts")_ creator [Charles M. Schulz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_M._Schulz "Charles M. Schulz") was known to his friends as Sparky, a lifelong nickname given to him by his uncle as a diminutive of \*Barney Google’\*s Spark Plug. Comics historian [Don Markstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Markstein "Don Markstein") noted: > > > Sparky’s first race became one of comics’ first national media events, eagerly anticipated by millions of newspaper readers. So great was the public’s enthusiasm that DeBeck, who had been planning to retire the plug after that one storyline, made him a permanent part of the cast. Spark Plug was such a star during the 1920s that children who enjoyed the comics were liable to get “Sparky” for a nickname—for example, Charles M. “Sparky” Schulz, who grew up to create _Peanuts_.[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Google_and_Snuffy_Smith#cite_note-toon-10) > **[Barney Google and Snuffy Smith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Google_and_Snuffy_Smith)** > > Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, originally Take Barney Google, for Instance,\[note 1\] is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck. Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a large international readership, appearing in 900 newspapers in 21 countries. The initial appeal of the strip led to its adaptation to film, animation, popular song, and television. It added several terms and phrases to the English language and inspired the 1923 hit tune "Barney Google (wit Bar... ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4462 "2026-04-07T01:06:26Z")
Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson got his nickname as a kid from a comic strip too. Young Jackson had a paper route and was nicknamed after a Scoop, a cub reporter on the funny pages. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4463 "2026-04-08T17:09:10Z")
The Toronto Blue Jays (major league baseball) traditionally sell hot dogs for $1 at their Tuesday night home games. They set a record last night (April 7) by selling over 102,000 hot dogs to the 40,000 fans in attendance. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4464 "2026-04-09T07:29:04Z")
According to the trivia section on IMDb: By the time she played Elyse Keaton, Meredith Baxter Birney had starred in two hit series: Bridget Loves Bernie and Family; Family Ties was her third hit. One Day at A Time, also a big hit, was based on her life and written by her mother, Whitney Mannings Blake, and was intended to star her, but it starred Bonnie Franklin and Mackenzie Phillips playing her role. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4465 "2026-04-09T14:17:28Z")
The Center for Disease Control’s headquarters is in Atlanta because when it was founded in the 1930s the agency’s main mission was malaria control, and malaria was a significant problem in the Southeast. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4466 "2026-04-09T14:34:43Z")
Ben Stiller owns the only surviving original Gorn mask from the 1960s Star Trek ep “Arena.” ---
**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:** [April 11, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4467 "2026-04-11T18:43:39Z")
TIL there is a word for “the day before yesterday”: **Nudiustertian**. Definitely a much needed word that is woefully underutilized. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4468 "2026-04-11T19:52:53Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > woefully underutilized That is the strange thing: **[anteayer](https://dle.rae.es/anteayer)** and **[vorgestern](https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/vorgestern)** are perfectly common words in Spansh and German, respectively, because they are useful words. Every normal language has an equivalent, and they sort of explain themselves: _ante_ is before, _ayer_ is yesterday. Same for _vor_ and _gestern_. English is the odd one out, both for not being common and for being etymologically artificial. From Latin _nudius tertius_, literally, today is the third day as counted from the day I mean onwards. Well, I guess that makes up for the word _fortnite_, which is useful and still has no equivalent in German or Spanish. At least to my knowledge it doesn’t. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2026, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4469 "2026-04-11T20:35:01Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Well, I guess that makes up for the word _fortnite_, which is useful and still has no equivalent in German or Spanish. It has an equivalent in German, we still often say “in vierzehn Tagen”, “in 14 days” when we mean two weeks. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4470 "2026-04-11T20:36:44Z")
Right, but for once, it’s a single word in English, yet not in German. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2026, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4471 "2026-04-11T20:37:33Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > yet not in German. Which is ironic. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2026, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4472 "2026-04-11T20:37:57Z")
But fourteen days _are_ two weeks. Am I missing something in your argument? ---
**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:** [April 11, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4473 "2026-04-11T20:39:50Z")
I dunno, I just always found it strange that the period of “vierzehn Tage” has such a special meaning in German. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2026, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4474 "2026-04-12T00:09:13Z")
We non-German-speakers are still puzzled. What is special about it? Is it not the normal way that you would say 14 of something in German? Is the syntax different than if you said “13 days” or “15 days” ? ---
**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:** [April 12, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4475 "2026-04-12T00:26:04Z")
If something will happen in 21 days, you are very likely to say “three weeks.” In 7 days, “one week.” If something will happen in 25 days, you are rather likely to say “25 days” (though “in three to four weeks” is another option, depending on how precise you need to be). In 10 days, “10 days” (though “in a week and half” might be an option). So, if something will happen in 14 days, one would expect the language to prefer “two weeks.” Yet, both English and German have a higher-than-expected preference for “14 days” – in English, to the extent of fashioning it into a single word. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2026, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4476 "2026-04-12T00:42:26Z")
Watching _The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan_ the other day I discovered you can have a paintball battle in the ruins of one of Pablo Escobar’s mansions. (cost: somewhere around $400) ---
**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 12, 2026, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4477 "2026-04-12T01:04:07Z")
Technically, you can have a paintball battle anywhere. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2026, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4478 "2026-04-12T01:04:40Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Yet, both English and German have a higher-than-expected preference for “14 days” – in English, to the extent of fashioning it into a single word. Not surprisingly, fortnight is derived from the German. > [fortnight(n.) > ](https://www.etymonline.com/word/fortnight) > > “period of two weeks,” 17c. contraction of Middle English _fourteniht_, from Old English _feowertyne niht_, literally “fourteen nights” (see [fourteen](https://www.etymonline.com/word/fourteen) + [night](https://www.etymonline.com/word/night)). It preserves the ancient Germanic custom of reckoning by nights (mentioned by Tacitus in _“Germania”_ xi). Related: _Fortnightly_. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2026, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4479 "2026-04-12T01:43:11Z")
I just tried Google Ngram on fortnight (and fortnite). It says that, since 1600, fortnight peaked in 1845 and bottomed out in 1995 in frequency of appearance. The spelling fortnite is rare. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2026, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4480 "2026-04-12T02:28:24Z")
Exactly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=223) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=225)