# 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:** 44
**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 10, 2024, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/861 "2024-11-10T23:13:33Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Because building codes generally don’t allow street-level apartments Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/862 "2024-11-10T23:33:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Why not? No idea. Although laws may have changed in recent decades. Some newer buildings have rear-facing “garden apartments”. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2024, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/863 "2024-11-11T00:58:10Z")
Even single-family homes were traditionally built with the main floor half a flight up from the ground, with basements or basement apartments having their windows at ground level. Why? Inquiring minds want to know. ---
**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 11, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/864 "2024-11-11T01:14:40Z")
Kharkiv (Ukraine) 1.4 million people - is majority Russian-speaking (native language) - 66%. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/865 "2024-11-11T16:30:10Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > As a young boy I lived for a few years on Tybee Island off the coast from Savannah GA and the houses there were all built like that. Albeit for very different reasons. Line you said, those houses on the coast were built like that to withstand storm surges. Dingbat apartment buildings were built that way to maximize the number of units they could squeeze into the lot. ---
**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 11, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/866 "2024-11-11T17:58:41Z")
Now I wonder what the relation between those buildings and [Zapf Dingbats](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Zapf_Dingbats) may be. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/867 "2024-11-11T18:48:27Z")
Good question. Zapf dingbats are just a specific collection of the printer’s marks called dingbats > While the word is sometimes said to reference dingbat in the sense of a “general term of disparagement”,[7] dingbat refers to the stylistic star-shaped decorations, reminiscent of typographic dingbats, that often garnish the stucco façades.[8][9][10] These flourishes and other ornamental elements reflect the contemporary but more complex Googie architecture. The construction style predates the Zapf dingbats by a few years ---
**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 11, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/868 "2024-11-11T19:17:05Z")
I once lived in a dingbat style apartment, on the floor directly above the garage level. One day there was a car fire in a car parked right under my apartment. My roommate and I smelled smoke and left the apartment. The car fire got pretty intense, and by the time the fire department arrived, there was thick black smoke pouring out of the windows of our apartment. We thought our apartment must have caught on fire, but when the car was extinguished, our apartment was fine (except for smelling like smoke for weeks). I’ve never really understood how the smoke was able to travel so readily from the carport into the apartment above it. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/869 "2024-11-11T20:57:47Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > The construction style predates the Zapf dingbats by a few years The construction of the buildings might predate Zapf dingbats, but I’m guessing the buildings didn’t gain that nickname until later. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/870 "2024-11-11T21:14:04Z")
It appears that dingbat fonts were the inspiration for the naming of the buildings. From the [Wiki article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingbat_(building)) on Dingbat apartments: > While the word is sometimes said to reference _dingbat_ in the sense of a “general term of disparagement”,[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingbat_(building)#cite_note-oed-7) _dingbat_ refers to the stylistic star-shaped decorations, reminiscent of [typographic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographic) [dingbats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingbat), that often garnish the stucco façades.[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingbat_(building)#cite_note-frauenfelder-8)[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingbat_(building)#cite_note-ibold-9)[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingbat_(building)#cite_note-city-of-la-10) However, Zapf Dingbats were [created in 1978](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapf_Dingbats), long after the application of the word to the building style. So @Zyada is the best kind of correct- technically correct. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/871 "2024-11-11T21:16:53Z")
_Dingbats_ have been around for a long time. They’ve been called that since at least 1912. _Zapf_ dingbats is the collection of dingbats by Herman Zapf. Dingbat _architecture_ ha gone by that name since 1971 ETA: thanks @peccavi ! ---
**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 11, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/872 "2024-11-11T21:19:00Z")
Right, _dingbat_ as a term in typography long predates the Zapf font of that name. The OED has > dingbat: 2.c.ii: Printing. A typographical device other than a letter or numeral (such as an asterisk or rule), used to signal divisions in text, to replace letters in a euphemistically presented vulgar word, or for ornamentation. Also in plural: a font or typeface consisting of these. The first quotation is from 1897. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/873 "2024-11-12T00:41:11Z")
In Australia a dingbat is a twit, a fool. ---
**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 12, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/874 "2024-11-12T00:43:17Z")
In the 1960s (and earlier), Toronto’s downtown department store windows had incredible Christmas displays. However - due to “blue laws” - curtains were drawn over the windows every Saturday night, and not re-opened until Monday morning. ---
**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 12, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/875 "2024-11-12T00:49:48Z")
It’s used that way in the US too, to some extent. To persons of my age, it’s likely to bring up memories of the character Archie Bunker in the TV show _All in the Family_, who would frequently call his wife a “dingbat” when she said something that he thought was stupid. The OED gives ten meanings, including one that it labels as _Australian and New Zealand_, which I’ve never heard in the US: > In plural. Chiefly with the. Delirium; a disordered state of mind or consciousness such as might result from fever, intoxication, etc.; spec. delirium tremens. Frequently also in weakened sense, with reference to crazy, silly, or deluded thoughts or ideas. Often in **to have the dingbats** or **to be in the dingbats**. Also **to give (a person) the dingbats**: to make a person nervous or crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/876 "2024-11-12T00:52:48Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The OED gives ten meanings, including one that it labels as _Australian and New Zealand_, which I’ve never heard in the US: Nor have I heard it used that way here, in 60 years … ! ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/877 "2024-11-12T00:58:10Z")
Today I learned about [Mary Ann Bickerdyke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Bickerdyke), who ran hospitals for soldiers during the Civil War and, as the youths say, got shit done. She was no doubt a hero and saved many lives by her efforts. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/878 "2024-11-12T12:29:39Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > due to “blue laws” - curtains were drawn over the windows every Saturday night, and not re-opened until Monday morning. Wow. As a kid growing up in Pittsburgh, Sundays in December was all about going dawntawn to see the xmas displays in the windows of Kaufmans, Gimbels, and Joseph Hornes. According to my memory, Kaufmans was the best, Hornes the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/879 "2024-11-12T23:05:01Z")
Wenhad the same in Ft. Worth, although I don’t remember who was best, except that one store had the reindeer and sleigh attached to te fire escapes ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/880 "2024-11-13T10:01:18Z")
You may know of [Nikolaus Pevsner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus_Pevsner), the German-British architectural historian who wrote the definitive guides to “The Buildings of England.” Today I learned that he was both of Jewish origin and [a supporter of the Nazis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus_Pevsner#Second_World_War). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=43) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=45)