# 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:** 77
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2025, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1521 "2025-02-02T21:37:00Z")
If you ever took a Spanish or French language class, you were probably surprised to learn that, in those languages, third person possessive pronouns are determined by the gender of the thing possessed rather than the gender of the person who possesses it. So for example in French, _sa maison_ means either “his house” or “her house” depending on the context. Similarly if we’re talking about someone who owns multiple houses, _ses maisons_ means “his houses” or “her houses” again according to context. This pattern is, surprisingly, far more common among the Indoeuropean languages. The Germanic group is an exception. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1522 "2025-02-02T21:50:40Z")
deleted, it made no sense, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2025, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1523 "2025-02-02T22:03:57Z")
I was sure surprised to see that was "Masculine ‘su’ " (his) and a “Femenine ‘su’” (her) in English when I learned it, in Spanish there’s only “su”, gender of the person possesing the item nothwithstanding. As you said it’s “Su casa” o “Sus casas”, not “His/Her house” or “His/Her houses”. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1524 "2025-02-02T22:15:36Z")
Sometimes, when it seems important to make it clear whether it is his or her house it can be said “su casa de él” (his house) or “su casa de ella” (her house). It sounds stilted, legalistic and pedantic, but sometimes it is necessary. I don’t know whether this is a Spain-Spanish thing or LA-Spanish thing too. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1525 "2025-02-02T22:20:27Z")
In German, the possessive pronouns third person singular depend both on the gender of the person _and_ the object. Female pronouns are ihr/ihre, male sein/seine, ihr/sein for neuter or male objects, ihre/seine for female. So it’s ihre/seine Flasche (f), but ihr/sein Buch (n). ---
**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:** [February 2, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1526 "2025-02-02T22:35:35Z")
In Welsh, in the third person singular, the gender of the possessor is indicated by the change in the first letter of the object possessed. Tŷ = house ei dŷ = his house ei thŷ = her house. or the addition of a letter arian = money ei arian = his money ei harian = her money If you need to be clear, you stick the regular pronoun after the noun: ffa = beans ei ffa e - his beans ei ffa hi = her beans ---
**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:** [February 3, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1527 "2025-02-03T00:03:36Z")
Russian is quirky. First and second person possessives inflect across five cases of three genders or plural, but third person just uses the genitive inflection of the pronoun. Your, my, our or your behave like adjectives, but his, her and their are just added in words. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1528 "2025-02-03T01:25:10Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > This pattern is, surprisingly, far more common among the Indoeuropean languages. The Germanic group is an exception. ETA: To be clear, the more heavily inflected Germanic languages like German and Icelandic do also inflect for case, gender, and number of the thing possessed, but those inflections are postfixes. In my previous post I was referring only to the pronoun roots (English has only the roots because there are no postfixed inflections.) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1529 "2025-02-03T01:29:46Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I learned today that if you are out camping in the freezing temps and don’t want your water bottle to freeze, bury it in the snow! The air bubbles trapped in the snow insulate the bottle. I was taught to keep the canteen or water bottle in my sleeping bag, with the idea that my body heat will keep it from freezing. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1530 "2025-02-03T21:19:55Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I learned today that if you are out camping in the freezing temps and don’t want your water bottle to freeze, bury it in the snow! The air bubbles trapped in the snow insulate the bottle. Crazy but true! …which leads us nicely to the subnivean zone, a sheltered area under snow. > Subnivean [fauna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauna) includes small mammals such as [mice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse), [voles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole), [shrews](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrew), and [lemmings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemming) that must rely on winter snow cover for survival. These mammals move under the snow for protection from heat loss and some predators. In winter regions that do not have [permafrost](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permafrost), the subnivean zone maintains a temperature of close to 32 °F (0 °C) regardless of the temperature above the snow cover, once the snow cover has reached a depth of six inches (15 cm) or more. The sinuous tunnels left by these small mammals can be seen from above when the snow melts to the final inch or so. > **[Subnivean climate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subnivean_climate)** > > The subnivean climate (From Latin for "under" (sub-) and "of snow" (niveus) and English -an.) is the environment between fallen snow and terrain. This is the environment of many hibernal animals, as it provides insulation and protection from predators. The subnivean climate is formed by three different types of snow metamorphosis: destructive metamorphosis, which begins when snow falls; constructive metamorphosis, the movement of water vapor to the surface of the snowpack; and melt metamorphos Su... j ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2025, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1531 "2025-02-03T23:48:34Z")
Makes sense. Ice remains at the freezing point until it’s all melted. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2025, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1532 "2025-02-04T00:14:17Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Ice remains at the freezing point until it’s all melted. Which is not to imply that ice does not get much colder than the freezing temperature. In fact, when temperatures get very cold, ice becomes a little less treacherous because it no longer bears a lubricating film of liquid water on its surface. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2025, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1533 "2025-02-04T01:02:15Z")
As it happens, I found a YouTube clip today about how as recently as 1978 Russia suffered a cold snap so severe even by Russian standards that it threatened to collapse their infrastructure, with temperatures below -50°C. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EYGUnrjIlBk/maxresdefault.jpg "The 1978 Cold Anomaly: When All of Russia Froze to -73°F") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYGUnrjIlBk) ---
**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:** [February 4, 2025, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1534 "2025-02-04T01:32:28Z")
Those damned subnivean voles girdle my apple saplings when the snow is deep. And chew up flower roots in my perennial flower beds. Never do we even see the damage until spring. Then you can see the pattern of tunnels on top of the soil. Little shits. Cool word though. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1535 "2025-02-04T01:37:25Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Which is not to imply that ice does not get much colder than the freezing temperature. In fact, when temperatures get very cold, ice becomes a little less treacherous because it no longer bears a lubricating film of liquid water on its surface. Similarly, when temperatures get cold enough (somewhere in the vicinity of 0 F, though of course it’s a fuzzy line), snow will no longer melt on the surface of the clothes of someone appropriately-dressed for the weather, which can make such extreme temperatures slightly more tolerable than temperatures a little bit warmer. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1536 "2025-02-04T03:22:38Z")
All the world’s Botox comes from County Mayo, Ireland. [How a small town in Ireland came to produce all the world’s supply of Botox - Ireland Calling](https://ireland-calling.com/lifestyle/westport-botox-supply/) ---
**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:** [February 4, 2025, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1537 "2025-02-04T03:57:54Z")
…and no one ever smiles there. But they don’t appear to be worried. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1538 "2025-02-04T15:00:50Z")
Rubbermaid was originally founded as the Wooster [Ohio] Rubber Company, and started out making. . . balloons! (Yes, real balloons.) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1539 "2025-02-05T06:15:33Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Which is not to imply that ice does not get much colder than the freezing temperature. In fact, when temperatures get very cold, ice becomes a little less treacherous because it no longer bears a lubricating film of liquid water on its surface. “Very cold” doesn’t have to mean polar depths of cold either. We had a ice storm here just over a year ago when the temperature never rose above the low 20s for several days. Not being used to such conditions, I was astonished by how everything outdoors was as dry as a rock in the driest desert. You could put objects of paper or wool on the ground and they wouldn’t get wet in the least. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53467015341_3b53d40681_b.jpg "DSC\_0005") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/78538399@N00/53467015341/) This kept looking like new-fallen snow for almost the entire duration of the event, unlike real snow which gets spoiled by the tracks left behind by tires and shoes. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1540 "2025-02-05T11:21:22Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > “Very cold” doesn’t have to mean polar depths of cold either. We had a ice storm here just over a year ago when the temperature never rose above the low 20s for several days. I’ll back this up. An icy road at 32f is much more dangerous than one at 0f. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=76) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=78)