# 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:** 86
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1701 "2025-02-26T03:41:36Z")
Like turning an object on a lathe? ---
**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 26, 2025, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1702 "2025-02-26T09:00:51Z")
Yes, what you do with a lathe is called _[drehen](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drehen_(Verfahren))_ in German, except when you do it with a wooden object (less frequently also for horn, ivory, amber, alabaster, soapstone, serpentinite, acrylic glass (Plexiglas) and other plastics), in this case it is called _[drechseln](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drechseln)_ (pronounced more or less drex-eln). In fact, a lathe is called a [Drehmaschine](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drehmaschine) in German. What else? ---
**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 26, 2025, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1703 "2025-02-26T09:20:20Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > in this case it is called _[drechseln](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drechseln)_ (pronounced more or less drex-eln). Isn’t there also the occupational surname Drechsler? I’ve also seen the shorter, Anglicized variant Drexel. The equivalent occupational surname in English, though not a cognate, is Turner. ---
**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 26, 2025, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1704 "2025-02-26T09:33:50Z")
Sure, with several orthographic variants, as usual. If you are into football you may remember **[Julian Draxler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Draxler)**, I guess he is related to drechseln too. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1705 "2025-02-26T10:40:45Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Yes, what you do with a lathe is called _[drehen](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drehen_(Verfahren))_ in German, except when you do it with a wooden object (less frequently also for horn, ivory, amber, alabaster, soapstone, serpentinite, acrylic glass (Plexiglas) and other plastics), in this case it is called _[drechseln](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drechseln)_ (pronounced more or less drex-eln). > In fact, a lathe is called a [Drehmaschine](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drehmaschine) in German. What else? The German word for “torque” is “drehmoment”. Diverging a bit (OK, a lot): Engineers commonly use the English word “moment” by itself to mean **[torque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque)**, but TIL that that’s actually a more generic term in physics referring to the mathematical product of distance (raised to some power) and some other physical quantity: > **[Moment (physics)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_(physics))** > > A moment is a mathematical expression involving the product of a distance and a physical quantity such as a force or electric charge. Moments are usually defined with respect to a fixed reference point and refer to physical quantities located some distance from the reference point. For example, the moment of force, often called torque, is the product of a force on an object and the distance from the reference point to the object. In principle, any physical quantity can be multiplied by a distance... In the proper name “_i_th moment of _j_”, the value of _i_ is the exponent applied to distance. So the full descriptive name of torque is “first moment of force”, meaning the exponent on distance is 1: T = F \* D1. Similarly, the mass moment of inertia for a rotating object is properly called “second moment of inertia”, which means the exponent on distance is 2: I = r2\*m. I don’t remember being taught that formal/broad meaning of “moment” in my engineering classes all those years ago. ---
**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 26, 2025, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1706 "2025-02-26T11:13:34Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Sure, with several orthographic variants, as usual. If you are into football you may remember **[Julian Draxler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Draxler)**, I guess he is related to drechseln too. Another famous athlete with a variant of that name is Heike Drechsler, two time Olympic champion in the long jump. > **[Heike Drechsler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heike_Drechsler)** > > Heike Gabriela Drechsler (.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%}German pronunciation: \[ˈhaɪkə ˈdʁɛkslɐ\] ⓘ; née Daute; born 16 December 1964) is a German former track and field athlete who represented East Germany and later Germany. One of the most successful long jumpers of all time, she is a former world record holder and ranks third on... ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1707 "2025-02-26T12:02:01Z")
yesterday, 94% of Chile were without electricity for 6-10 hours … details are not quite clear yet, it seems like a fault protection mechanism activated erroniously (false positive) and took a line that transports 25% of Chile’s electricity to the south (south in this case starts about 2000km NORTH of Santiago) - and given that there was no transmission line, all other producers of electricity had to take their production off-line … well… much chaos ensued. The Metro in Stgo was stopped, millions had to find alternative ways to get home (many of them walking 10+km!) yep the structural problem of an energy-grid in a country with a 40:1 aspect ratio … (anybody has any knowledge of what happens to a powerstation when it can’t carry off the produced energy? … how does the energy get “dumped” ultra-short-time?) … I assume short-middle-time there are some sort of “idle” mechanisms in a gas- or windturbine, solar park, etc… ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1708 "2025-02-26T13:32:54Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Yes, what you do with a lathe is called _[drehen](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drehen_(Verfahren))_ in German, except when you do it with a wooden object (less frequently also for horn, ivory, amber, alabaster, soapstone, serpentinite, acrylic glass (Plexiglas) and other plastics), in this case it is called _[drechseln](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drechseln)_ (pronounced more or less drex-eln). > In fact, a lathe is called a [Drehmaschine](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drehmaschine) in German. What else? Turns out (no pun intended) “dreidel”, a kid’s spinning toy, is cognate with drehen. ---
**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 26, 2025, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1709 "2025-02-26T13:42:58Z")
And another variant it ‘Trexler,’ which shows up in my family tree a few generations back. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1710 "2025-02-26T14:42:10Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > The German verb _drehen_ means “to turn” (in the sense of “rotation” or “turning around” rather than as of a vehicle changing direction), and is a cognate of “to throw”. > > The semantic commonality is “throwing” a pot on a potter’s wheel, which rotates by definition … The simple act of throwing an object, especially a handheld object for distance, fundamentally involves at least a partial rotation of the entire body. Given also the usual arm motion for such a hurl, it makes a lot of sense that **[a verb meaning “to rotate, to turn, to twist”](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/throw#Etymology_1)** morphed a bit into “to throw”. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1711 "2025-02-26T15:08:32Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Turns out (no pun intended) “dreidel”, a kid’s spinning toy, is cognate with drehen. in old viennes dialect: a Drahdiwaberl (dreh dich, weibchen) … I am sure 90% of the sub 20ies in Vienna would not understand that … also a rather important proto-anarcho-punky band in the 80ies in Vienna - out of which, Falco came … [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dbUCiRyOIUA/hqdefault.jpg "Drahdiwaberl - Mad Cat Sadie [mit Falco, 1979]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbUCiRyOIUA) ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1712 "2025-02-26T15:14:02Z")
cant edit b/c of YT … dreh-dich-weiberl … is translated **rotate, girly / twist, gal** - as those things were often female shaped, being gedrechselt and all that ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1713 "2025-02-26T15:15:17Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > And another variant it ‘Trexler,’ which shows up in my family tree a few generations back. I went to high school with someone whose family name was Traxler. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1714 "2025-02-26T16:08:29Z")
But no connection to the rotary device Dremel tool. Inventor Albert Dremel’s name is from Middle High German for club, stick, etc. Turner halls were [gymnastics clubs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turners) where political activity also took place. This created trouble in 1848, but German immigrants brought them to many towns and cities in the US ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1715 "2025-02-27T14:24:29Z")
Today, by random chance, I happened to learn the German word for morning wood. The interesting fact about it — the word is gendered as _feminine._ “Die Morgenlatte.” Which is definitely not something you want to order at Starbuck’s. Or, well, maybe you do. Just leave me out of it. ---
**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 27, 2025, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1716 "2025-02-27T14:42:58Z")
It can be feminine in Spanish too, depending what term you use, I can’t recall a slang term for it, but “Ereccion matutina” (“morning erection”) is feminine. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1717 "2025-02-27T14:50:01Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > “Die Morgenlatte.” “Latte”, cognate with “lath”, a thin strip of wood (as in “lath and plaster walls”). Makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1718 "2025-02-27T14:54:15Z")
Thank God! I thought it might refer to “morning milk”. Yuck! ---
**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 27, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1719 "2025-02-27T15:30:45Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > “Die Morgenlatte.” “Latte” means a wooden board (so it’s related to morning “wood”), but is also slang for an erection like “boner”. ETA: as an aside: another slang word for erection is “Steifen”, which just means “stiff one”. There’s a cult Schlager parody singer with the stage name of Christian Steiffen, which is a homophone of “Krist ja’n Steifen”, which means “Hey, you get a boner!” in North German dialect. > **[Hardy Schwetter](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardy_Schwetter)** > > Hardy Schwetter (\* 24. April 1971 in Georgsmarienhütte) ist ein deutscher Musiker und Schauspieler. Unter dem Künstlernamen Christian Steiffen ist er als Entertainer tätig. Er lebt in Osnabrück. > Von 1993 bis 1995 absolvierte Schwetter seine Schauspielausbildung an der Lee Strasberg Theatre School in New York. > Von 2001 bis 2010 war er Frontman einer siebenköpfigen Elvis-Tribute-Band. Hieraus entwickelte er 2007 anlässlich des 97. Deutschen Katholikentags seine erste Kunstfigur Reverend Hardy Har... ---
**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 27, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1720 "2025-02-27T18:24:40Z")
And in Catalan it is called (among other things) _la trempera matinera_, which was the title of a song by a crazy band about 40 or 50 years ago, La Trinca. Here is the **[video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0JeDv0VR0c)**. Of course it is feminine too. The text was very simple, it went like: The morning erection is not a proper erection, it’s just that you have to pee. Again and again, with a Cuban rythm. Well, more or less. It was a great hit back then. Now I am wondering about what you mean by “random chance”, leaving apart the fact that it is nice example of a pleonasm. BTW: I say that again, and it bears repeating: If only people would understand the difference between (biological) sex and (grammatical) gender and that they have nothing to do with each other the political discourse would often be much less acrimonious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=85) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=87)