# 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:** 225
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2026, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4481 "2026-04-12T11:53:09Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The spelling fortnite is rare. Until 2017, of course. ---
**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, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4482 "2026-04-12T14:32:12Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Until 2017, of course. I wasn’t aware of the game Fortnite. Google Ngram only examines things up to 2022. I assume that what is happening is that some game players had never before used the word fortnight. When they decide to use it with the the meaning '“two weeks”, they go ahead and use the spelling of the game. ---
**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, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4483 "2026-04-12T18:37:20Z")
How often does anyone actually use the word “fortnight”, though? I’ve said plenty of times that something would happen “in two weeks”, or “a couple of weeks ago”, or the like, but I don’t think I’ve ever said “in a fortnight”, except possibly as a deliberate affectation (like expressing the speed of light in fathoms per fortnight, or the like). ---
**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, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4484 "2026-04-12T18:49:11Z")
An alternate spelling like Fortnite might pass muster as a trademark while the standard spelling wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4485 "2026-04-12T19:11:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How often does anyone actually use the word “fortnight”, though? I’ve heard it used by physic students many times. The old furlongs per fortnight unit of measurement. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2026, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4486 "2026-04-12T19:23:11Z")
OK I imagine many people know this already, but I just learnt that Martin Scorsese directed the Michael Jackson Bad video which astonished me. I had no idea he even directed music videos but I can imagine that was the hot thing back in the 80s. ---
**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, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4487 "2026-04-12T20:31:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How often does anyone actually use the word “fortnight”, though? I just used Google Ngram again. I looked at some of the most recent uses of the word. It appears that it’s used more outside the U.S. It’s more common in English-speaking countries where the influence of British English in stronger than American-English, like India or Australia. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2026, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4488 "2026-04-12T21:21:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How often does anyone actually use the word “fortnight”, though? It’s common in British English. I don’t think I’ve heard it used naturally in the US. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4489 "2026-04-13T13:12:27Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > It’s common in British English A fortnight in French is 15 days. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4490 "2026-04-13T13:37:48Z")
Long Island “Cop Land”: serial killer investigation complicated by a corrupt county chief. > **[This idyllic US town was full of police families - and a serial killer in...](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwjkqq910go)** > > For years, rumours swirled about who could be behind the bodies being discovered on the shores of Gilgo Beach. > Massapequa, its residents proudly proclaim, is a “cop town”. > The community is home to New York Police Department (NYPD) detectives, multi-generational police families, officers from Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and members of myriad other law enforcement agencies. > > And when body parts started to be discovered in 2010 on Gilgo Beach - not far from where local teens work as lifeguards and families gather in the summer - it became clear that a serial killer had been active on Long Island for years. > “As an administrator and someone who was a cop, it was very frustrating that it took so long to discover… [who’s] responsible for these murders,” said John Azzata, Nassau County’s retired head of homicide. > > The situation wasn’t helped when Suffolk County Police Chief Jimmy Burke, then in charge of the Gilgo Beach investigation, was arrested in 2013 on sensational charges involving sex toys, pornography, coercion of witnesses and a cover-up. > > Burke entered the home of Christopher Loeb, a man arrested for probation violations, to retrieve a bag of sex toys and pornography that Loeb had stolen from Burke’s department-issued SUV, according to the US Attorney’s Office. He then beat Loeb while in police custody and tried to get others to cover it up. > > He pleaded guilty in 2016 to reduced charges and was sentenced to 46 months in prison. > > The debacle also led to related charges and five-year prison sentences for former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J Spota and Christopher McPartland, the former chief of investigations for the District Attorney’s Office and, ironically, chief of the government corruption bureau. > [T]he scandal was perfect fodder for armchair sleuths and conspiracy theorists, and the Long Island serial killer mystery persisted until [Rex] Heuermann’s arrest on 13 July 2023. > > As police breathed sighs of relief that he was an architect, those living in Massapequa were “astonished”, [Bob] Livoti said. “Whoever thought this guy was living next door to anyone?” > > “I think everybody was in shock,” said [retired NYPD detective Craig] Garland, who realised Heuermann’s child had participated in one of the Little League programmes he helped organise. “For anybody that came in contact with this individual, it was a shock.” ---
**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 13, 2026, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4491 "2026-04-13T14:07:19Z")
I’ve never been a ‘car’ person, so I was a little surprised to find that some two-door cars can be considered ‘sedans.’ I’d always thought that sedans had to have four doors. ---
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2026, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4492 "2026-04-13T14:10:41Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > It’s common in British English. I don’t think I’ve heard it used naturally in the US. It’s in todays crossword at [Best Daily Cryptic Crossword - Free Online Game | Best For Puzzles](https://puzzles.bestforpuzzles.com/games/daily-cryptic-crossword) 10 A: Initial section brought back in a fortnight (5) ---
**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 13, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4493 "2026-04-13T14:47:35Z")
The ‘ribbit’ sound that (at least we Americans) attribute to the frog was created in a “Smothers Brothers” episode in 1968, probably a direct result of “Gilligan’s Island” ep called “Water, Water, Everywhere” (1965) which featured a frog named “Ribbit.” However, the frog, vocalized by an obscure voice actor named Mel Blanc, only croaks, never actually says “Ribbit!” ---
**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:** [April 13, 2026, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4494 "2026-04-13T14:48:11Z")
In Breton, too (pemzekteiz). In Welsh it’s 15 nights (pythefnos). Welsh also has the day before yesterday (echdoe) and the night before last (echnos), as well as the day after tomorrow (trennydd) and the day after that (tradwy), though the last one isn’t common. ---
**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 13, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4495 "2026-04-13T14:52:42Z")
In German, we often say “in acht Tagen” (in eight days) when we mean in a week. We also have a word for the day before yesterday (vorgestern) and the day after tomorrow (übermorgen). ---
**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:** [April 13, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4496 "2026-04-13T15:54:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > > [@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_. Nitpick: the word _fortnight_ is from Germanic, not German. Germanic is a language family and when used in an etymology refers to the historical ancestor of all Germanic languages. German and English are both Germanic languages and descendants of the same ancestral language. Note that neither has a special relationship with Germanic (German is not more Germanic than English is). To say a word in English is derived from German, means it was borrowed from a German language. This is not the case for _fortnight_, which is a development along the English branch of the Germanic languages from Germanic origins. For further info, compare these Wikipedia entries. > **[Germanic languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages)** > > Extant > Extinct > Reconstructed > **[High German languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_German_languages)** > > This is an accepted version of this page > The High German languages (German: hochdeutsche Mundarten, i.e. High German dialects), or simply High German (Hochdeutsch \[ˈhoːxˌdɔɪ̯t͡ʃ\] ⓘ) – not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Benrath and Uerdingen isoglosses, i.e., in central and southern Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and eastern Belgium, as well as in neighbouring p... ---
**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 13, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4497 "2026-04-13T16:02:06Z")
Yep, I should have made that distinction. Especially since I’m reading Laury Spinney’s fascinating [Proto](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5BTG9GC/?bestFormat=true&k=proto&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-bk-v2_k0_1_5_de&crid=37OBY8L5SLUO9&sprefix=proto), a history of Indo-European language spread that carefully separates branches of linguistic history. ---
**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 13, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4498 "2026-04-13T16:16:43Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Nitpick: the word _fortnight_ is from Germanic, not German. […] (German is not more Germanic than English is). Counter-nitpick: English has so many French words that it can be argued (and I do) that it is less Germanic than German. Though German also has numerous French words, but for a different reason and not so engrained in the language itself. They are just loan words. ---
**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:** [April 13, 2026, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4499 "2026-04-13T16:47:32Z")
And just to round out the set, a lot of those French words ultimately came from Frankish, which is Germanic. Seems about 10% of French vocabulary is Germanic, which isn’t tons but isn’t nothing. ---
**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:** [April 13, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4500 "2026-04-13T16:57:51Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > [@Pleonast](#): > > > > Nitpick: the word _fortnight_ is from Germanic, not German. […] (German is not more Germanic than English is). > > Counter-nitpick: English has so many French words that it can be argued (and I do) that it is less Germanic than German. Though German also has numerous French words, but for a different reason and not so engrained in the language itself. They are just loan words. Yeah, I didn’t have enough qualifiers on that parenthetical. I was talking about words like _fortnight_ and _vierzehn Tage_, which are equally Germanic. Once we start looking at entire vocabulary sets, we can make more comprehensive comparisons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=224) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=226)