# 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:** 68
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1341 "2025-01-16T17:14:49Z")
At the beginning of every show an off screen announcer would list the guests and then announce “and heeeeere’s Johnny” at which point Carson would walk out and begin the introductory monologue. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1342 "2025-01-16T17:18:38Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > At the beginning of every show an off screen announcer would list the guests and then announce “and heeeeere’s Johnny” Ed McMahon, who was usually on-screen for that intro (IIRC), and was Johnny’s side-kick throughout the show. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1343 "2025-01-16T17:36:28Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > _Shawarma_ is the Arabicized form of Turkish _çevirme_, from the verb _çevirmek_ ‘to rotate, turn, spin’, and means the act of rotation. It’s a synonym of _dönmek_ ‘to rotate, turn, spin’, so _döner_ is the verb conjugation meaning ‘it (always) turns’. Related to _dönme_, the act of turning, referring to Sabbatean Jews who “turned” into Muslims. In Turkey you can see _Dönme_ people eating _döner kebap._ Similarly, the Greek _gyro_ also comes from a root meaning “to turn”, again referring to the rotating vertical rotisserie: > [@](#): > > The name comes from the [Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language) γύρος (_gyros_, ‘circle’ or ‘turn’). It is a [calque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calque) of the [Turkish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_language) _döner_, from _dönmek_, also meaning “turn”.[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyros#cite_note-7) > **[Gyros](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyros)** > > Gyros, sometimes anglicized as a gyro (/ˈjɪəroʊ, ˈdʒɪər-, ˈdʒaɪr-/; Greek: γύρος, romanized: yíros/gyros, lit. 'turn', .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}pronounced \[ˈʝiros\]) in some regions, is meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, along with other ingredients such as to The name... ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1344 "2025-01-16T17:41:44Z")
> [@X.L.Lent](#): > > Actress Ann B. Davis, best known for playing the part of Alice on the Brady Bunch TV show, had an identical twin sister. Conrad Bain from “Diff’rent Strokes” had a twin brother, Bonar Bain (who played a fictional twin brother “Hank Bain” on SCTV). ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1345 "2025-01-16T18:37:10Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > but I guess not the previous reference. > [@zimaane](#): > > At the beginning of every show an off screen announcer would list the guests and then announce “and heeeeere’s Johnny” at which point Carson would walk out and begin the introductory monologue It was also used in _The Shining_ when Jack is chasing Wendy and Danny through the hotel. When Jack chops a hole in the door behind which Wendy is hiding, he sticks his face through and yells “heeeeere’s Johnny!” That specific shot was used in the movie’s poster, as well. I suspect that’s where a lot of people first heard that line. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1346 "2025-01-16T20:19:22Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Johnny Carson, for decades the iconic host of the Tonight Show. That’s where it was born, but I think the current popularity in memes comes from Jack Nicholson’s use of the phrase in The Shining. (link to movie clip spoilered for minor gore) **[Here’s Johnny](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nOBrlNHzYY8)** ---
**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:** [January 16, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1347 "2025-01-16T20:47:57Z")
But that scene is a specific call-out to the Carson opening. As an aside, I find it interesting when cultural memes change with association. “Buffy” was a preppie name in the early 80s with the implication of a spoiled self-centered girl. Whedon using that name for his central character was a deliberate choice. Now, the preppie association is long gone ---
**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:** [January 16, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1348 "2025-01-16T21:50:25Z")
Hearing that people are more familiar with Nicholson’s use of the phrase in _The Shining_ than its original use on the Tonight Show makes me feel older than usual today. It also seems strange because _The Shining_ was released in 1980 but Carson hosted the Tonight Show until 1992. But I guess people today watch _The Shining_ more than they watch reruns of the Tonight Show. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2025, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1349 "2025-01-16T22:32:46Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Don’t know about the USA, but in Europe child actors both for series and films are disproportionally often identical twins, because as per health and safety children can only work half as long as adults on set. After half day with one is done, the other takes over, and the adults keep on filming as if nothing has happened. It also makes it easier for the kids to learn the part, because each only needs to do half the lines. In the US, the most famous example of this would be Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who played the cute kid whose name I don’t remember on the sitcom Full House. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1350 "2025-01-16T22:33:33Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > But that scene is a specific call-out to the Carson opening. Yup - that’s why I said it was born with Carson. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1351 "2025-01-16T23:34:53Z")
**Venus and Saturn out tonight** At 240 degrees SW, Venus is bright white, Saturn a smaller red smudge to the left. I can just fit my thumb between them. More to come this month [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NgJ0OzOQsFk/maxresdefault.jpg "Rare Planetary Alignment Takes the Night Sky All over the World") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgJ0OzOQsFk) ---
**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:** [January 16, 2025, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1352 "2025-01-16T23:40:04Z")
Yeah, we get a rare once-in-a-milennium planetary alignment every couple of years or so. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1353 "2025-01-17T01:34:16Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > The proliferation of telegraph lines and electric cables apparently dramatically drove up the demand for copper in the late 1800s. Where there’s lots of money to be made, someone will figure out a way to make it. Around here, we have trouble with people stealing the wire from streetlights. It’s not ‘lots of money’ compared to a big mine, but it’s massively annoying. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1354 "2025-01-17T01:40:38Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Around here, we have trouble with people stealing the wire from streetlights. It’s not ‘lots of money’ compared to a big mine, but it’s massively annoying. Where I live a big problem is people stealing copper cabling from construction sites. Copper is valuable, and it continues to rise in spot price. See [chart](https://www.macrotrends.net/1476/copper-prices-historical-chart-data). ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1355 "2025-01-17T01:48:27Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I’m an American and don’t know that reference. I did not know the reference, but it is a highlight of the Jack Nicholsen film, “The Shining”. (ETA, is _that_ the reference? I thought the movie was referencing some other reference…) I did enjoy the film as theatre but did not find it very “horror” as it is usually billed. Then again, I watched “Friday the 13th” impassively, despite it being midnight, halloween and I was quite stoned. So my film review skills may not be typical. > **['Here's Johnny!': The Shining scene is scariest in movie history, claims study](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/oct/31/the-shining-heres-johnny-scariest-movie-scene-jack-nicholson)** > > Seminal Jack Nicholson scene voted most frightening, but The Exorcist and A Nightmare on Elm Street have the edge overall ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1356 "2025-01-17T02:36:26Z")
I’ve never watched Johnny Carson or seen _The Shining,_ but I did see the Simpsons parody of the film, so I just assumed the reference originated in the film somehow. Live and learn. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1357 "2025-01-17T04:11:09Z")
In Ankh-Morpork, the Brass Bridge hasn’t any brass left. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1358 "2025-01-17T11:49:31Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > Buffy” was a preppie name in the early 80s with the implication of a spoiled self-centered girl. I wonder what the current equivalent would be? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2025, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1359 "2025-01-17T12:00:02Z")
I would guess “Shondra” and its many variations. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2025, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1360 "2025-01-17T14:07:02Z")
My guess is a common name with a messed up spelling. NattQalee (the Q is silent). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=69)