# 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:** 54
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1061 "2024-12-10T17:49:47Z")
Everybody knows WD-40 goes on your stiff elbow, not your nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1062 "2024-12-10T17:54:04Z")
Depends on how much you pay. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1063 "2024-12-10T18:59:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Everybody knows WD-40 goes on your stiff elbow, not your nuts. That’s Windex. Which turns out to be an excellent coolant and lubricant for machining aluminum. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1064 "2024-12-10T19:08:36Z")
Today I learned that the combined live action-animation scenes for Disney’s “Mary Poppins” were created using a technology called Sodium Vapor Process which required a special almost unreproducible lens element. The process can be mimicked with modern technology but no one knows what happened to the special prisms the original cameras used. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQuIVsNzqDk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQuIVsNzqDk) ---
**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:** [December 10, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1065 "2024-12-10T19:39:24Z")
It sounds like simply getting the right coating on the prisms – not that difficult a thing. Ray Harryhausen used Sodium Vapor shots for 1960s movies, according to the book **From the Land Beyond Beyond**. The Wikipedia article says he used it in **First Men in the Moon** because it was otherwise hard to combine his characters with backgrounds. > **[Sodium vapor process](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_vapor_process)** > > The sodium vapor process (occasionally referred to as yellowscreen) is a photochemical film technique for combining actors and background footage. It originated in the British film industry in the late 1950s and was used extensively by Walt Disney Productions in the 1960s and 1970s as an alternative to the more common bluescreen process. Wadsworth E. Pohl is credited with the invention or development of both of these processes (Patent US3133814A), and received (with Ub Iwerks and Petro Vlahos) Th... ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1066 "2024-12-11T17:20:59Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I read somewhere that Italy has more surnames per capita than any other country. I wish I had a cite, and I’m not sure I believe it, but I’m willing to believe there are more than the surrounding countries. Some Italian names are common throughout the country, but there are quite a few very rare ones. One of our family names was born by a local historian, who traced it to an ancestor alive around 1500. What started out as a nickname became a surname (though what it means I can’t seem to find out.) All people with that surname descend from that individual. I recently randomly came across something about the actor Vincent Gardenia. He was born outside of Naples and his real name was Vincenzo Scognamiglio. After looking at that last name I immediately thought of this thread. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1067 "2024-12-14T19:55:04Z")
Britney Spears anagrams to Presbyterians PepsiCo anagrams to copies I got this from a Youtube channel called “Lateral with Tom Scott” ---
**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:** [December 14, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1068 "2024-12-14T20:29:36Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > PepsiCo anagrams to copies I miss one P in copies. Short anagrams seem easy. I admire André Breton who came up with “Avida Dollars” for Salvador Dalí all on its own without any computer assistance. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2024, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1069 "2024-12-14T20:32:35Z")
You are right. I may have to find that tidbit to see whether he was wrong, or my memory dropped the ball ---
**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:** [December 14, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1070 "2024-12-14T20:33:21Z")
There are a number of automated anagram generators on the Internet, such as `https://new.wordsmith.org/anagram/anagram.cgi`. Plugging in “Britney Spears” produces over 34,000 results. Some interesting ones besides “Presbyterians” are Nearby Priests Inert Passerby Try Serbia Pens Try Bean Spires Sniper Betrays Binary Presets Braise Rent Spy Pry Sent Rabies Banisters Pyre Barren Piss Yet Spry Bear Stein Stern Bear Yips ---
**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:** [December 14, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1071 "2024-12-14T21:52:43Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > A few minutes of searching later, I had learned two things: (a) the name “Travolta” is unique, known nowhere else except Travolta and his family and their immediate ancestors (which is pretty amazing), my last name is as well … including me, there are only 8 people with the same last name on this planet and all are immediate family. Its a germanized version of a slavic last name, so there might be the same 1800’s spelling thing going on as with Travolta … there are a few other last names that spell differently, but are phonetically pretty much the same (think: Meyer/Mayer/Meier). Along the same lines - and quite obv. for german speakers, here in Chile is this quite well known supreme court judge: [Hugo Dolmestch - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Dolmestch) I can literally see some underpaid1800s chilean clerk screwing up at the “registro civil” while processing an inscription of a newborn or migrant. Dolmetsch = Translator in German … and germans were notorious for their last names denominating their profession (Müller, Mayer, Schmied, Huber, Schneider,…) ---
**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:** [December 14, 2024, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1072 "2024-12-14T22:15:32Z")
I checked on a anagram site, but didn’t notice their top word was one letter short! ---
**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:** [December 15, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1073 "2024-12-15T00:30:45Z")
TIL that the abbreviation “etm” is a somewhat legitimate way to write “… and shit”. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1074 "2024-12-15T00:37:12Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > “etm” Does that stand for something or did you misspell etc.? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1075 "2024-12-15T00:43:03Z")
I watch some old school electronics repair channels on YouTube. The Algorithm decided to give me a recommendation I didn’t expect. It was for Jeff Dunham, the ventriloquist. Turns out he is a vintage electronics fan. The most recent [video](https://youtu.be/4bW1VlnkkFI) concerns one of those amazing looking Philco space age swivel TV sets. (One model was the Predicta. We actually had one in the TV junkers pile at home when I was a kid. We got it working but the tube was faint. Forget replacing the tube due to the design.) He tracked down and bought one that was **still in the box**. A couple guys helped him get it, unbox it, test it (it didn’t work), repair it. At the end (after a long time) they got it working. I never thought much of his act. But now I have an entirely new way of looking at him. I had no idea. Random fact: Jeff Dunham is cool (in one way). ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1076 "2024-12-15T00:48:24Z")
An _un_interesting random fact [![](https://preview.redd.it/fun-fact-the-ghostbusters-shared-a-phone-number-with-jim-v0-957odhp7vswd1.jpeg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=2d84a2b3ea9f4af0e235e5db87eefd8c7d72433f) ](https://preview.redd.it/fun-fact-the-ghostbusters-shared-a-phone-number-with-jim-v0-957odhp7vswd1.jpeg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=2d84a2b3ea9f4af0e235e5db87eefd8c7d72433f) ---
**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:** [December 15, 2024, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1077 "2024-12-15T00:51:07Z")
It stands for et merda. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1078 "2024-12-15T01:26:13Z")
Thank you. Hope I get a chance to use that. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1079 "2024-12-15T02:04:08Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I have a Scottish ancestor who was named Beatrix Elphinstone. This will be my next user name. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1080 "2024-12-15T03:19:02Z")
TIL that what is left of a bird that hits a plane or is sucked into the engine is called snarge. I also learned that the feather expert at the Smithsonian, who examined the snarge from the plane that landed in the Hudson River, is named Carla Dove. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=53) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=55)