# 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:** 93
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1841 "2025-03-08T23:26:04Z")
Here are 17 linguists commenting on whether “daughter” is derived from a word meaning “one who milks”. Most of them are skeptical or downright dismissive. > **[Language Log » Daughter of Holy Cow](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=49197)** ---
**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:** [March 9, 2025, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1842 "2025-03-09T00:39:02Z")
To be fair, entomologists probably don’t say that “daughter” means that, either. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1843 "2025-03-09T14:15:09Z")
At least we can all agree that Slithy Tove made a boner by typing entomologists instead of etymologists, especially with the mnemonic ent/ant built right in ---
**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:** [March 9, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1844 "2025-03-09T14:55:32Z")
Obligatory xkcd. > **[Wrong Superhero](https://xkcd.com/1012/)** ---
**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:** [March 10, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1845 "2025-03-10T16:21:50Z")
Today I stumbled across Auto-Brewery Syndrome. > **[Auto-brewery syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-brewery_syndrome)** > > Auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) (also known as gut fermentation syndrome, endogenous ethanol fermentation or drunkenness disease) is a condition characterized by the fermentation of ingested carbohydrates in the gastrointestinal tract of the body caused by bacteria or fungi. ABS is a rare medical condition in which intoxicating quantities of ethanol are produced through endogenous fermentation within the digestive system. The organisms responsible for ABS include various yeasts and bacteria, in Res... Surprising condition, pleasing name. j ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1846 "2025-03-10T17:33:20Z")
Pshaw… I was once told I had signs of a fatty liver: imagine - do-it-yourself foie gras. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1847 "2025-03-10T22:14:12Z")
What internationally known political leader was known to wear a Casio F-91W watch? BTW, this watch is dirt cheap. It retailed for $20 or less. I have one of it’s predecessors from waaay back. I came across it today. It was 9 minutes fast. I haven’t used it in many, many years. Answer blurred: [Osama Bin Laden and Barack Obama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F-91W#Notable_wearers). ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1848 "2025-03-10T22:21:49Z")
TIL that singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton was a cousin of Arlo Guthrie. Axton’s mother, Mae Boren Axton, co-wrote ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, which was a major hit for Elvis Presley. Axton wrote a number of songs that became hits for other musicians, including ‘The Pusher’, ‘Greenback Dollar’, ‘Joy to the World’, and ‘Never Been to Spain’. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1849 "2025-03-10T22:46:44Z")
I recently learned that hantavirus is named after the Hantan river in Korea and it was a common ailment for soldiers in the area during the Korean War. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2025, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1850 "2025-03-11T00:40:13Z")
That reminds me of something that happened here in Ohio in 2006. A trooper for the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) crashed his car. He died, along with two other people. The autopsy showed his BAC was 0.08%. The OSHP didn’t like this finding, since it made their organization look bad. [So they said he had nothing to drink, and claimed the alcohol was due to decomposition in his body](https://www.police1.com/investigations/articles/ohio-trooper-had-drunk-alcohol-autopsy-says-1NcoHNCT5OMGhRS7/). ---
**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:** [March 11, 2025, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1851 "2025-03-11T01:04:23Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > What internationally known political leader was known to wear a Casio F-91W watch? > > BTW, this watch is dirt cheap. It retailed for $20 or less. Supposedly, they come with three-year batteries. I had one somewhere that lasted closer to 20. All while keeping better time than a Rolex. Only problem with them is that the bands wear out too quickly. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1852 "2025-03-11T01:15:55Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I saw this yesterday. I was surprised that the car was apparently quite close to the low end of the old unused Cascade locks. Didn’t anyone else dive down to have a look at the submerged part in all that time? Well, according to the article, the diver who found the car > found other cars nearby … one car had been previously identified and the second was an unknown Volkswagen. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2025, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1853 "2025-03-11T15:27:23Z")
Oops, wrong thread. Meant to go into the questions with two answers one. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1854 "2025-03-12T13:18:31Z")
He might have been a cousin, but it was pretty distant or thru a step relationship. When you just say ‘a cousin,’ that’s. . . pretty broad. I went back three generations from Woody’s and Axton’s parents and couldn’t find any commonality. Definitely not thru Arlo’s mother, as she was from New Jersey. But. . . TIL that Arlo is Jewish via his mom Marjorie Greenblatt Guthrie. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1855 "2025-03-12T13:26:11Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > He might have been a cousin, but it was pretty distant or thru a step relationship. When you just say ‘a cousin,’ that’s. . . pretty broad. You’re telling me that Wikipedia isn’t 100% accurate??? I’m shocked. Here’s a quote from Arlo: > “We’d been friends since the late ‘60s since we met at the LA Troubadour, and decades later we found out that one of Hoyt’s mom’s ancestors had married one of my great grandfather’s brothers or something,” Arlo Guthrie recalled. [It’s all in the family for Arlo Guthrie](https://allpurposecommunicator.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Arlo-Guthrie.pdf) ---
**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:** [March 12, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1856 "2025-03-12T17:04:14Z")
Today I read, “The Sun is the most perfect sphere ever observed in nature. If you scaled the Sun down to the size of a volleyball, the size of its imperfection would be less than the width of a hair.” But I am a bit dubious of that claim. What about a soap bubble? ---
**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:** [March 12, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1857 "2025-03-12T17:08:57Z")
Soap bubbles are distorted by gravity and by air currents. The sun is not only a fluid equalized by its own gravity but because it only rotates about once every 27 days it has less equatorial bulge than the planets. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1858 "2025-03-12T17:17:16Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Today I read, “The Sun is the most perfect sphere ever observed in nature. If you scaled the Sun down to the size of a volleyball, the size of its imperfection would be less than the width of a hair.” > > But I am a bit dubious of that claim. It does sound like a just-so story. But there’s been serious research into the sun’s oblateness (flatness, or lack thereof) … and this particular fact appears to be true. Here’s an abstract of the original paper **[“The Constant Size and Shape of the Sun”](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014AAS...22421833B/abstract)** (American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #224, id.218.33, June 2014). Several popular-media publications covered this research – below is a good representative article: > **[Sun is the most perfect sphere ever observed in nature](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/16/sun-perfect-sphere-nature)** > > Scaled to the size of a beach ball, say scientists, the sun's equatorial bulge would be less than the width of a human hair ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1859 "2025-03-12T17:31:31Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > But I am a bit dubious of that claim. What about a soap bubble? There are probably things that are less out of round than a width of hair. They are probably talking about relative to overall size, like as a percent of radius. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1860 "2025-03-12T17:43:24Z")
Wouldn’t that be neutron stars? We have observed them and the biggest cliff you could find on one is 0.1mm. Not gonna do the math but if shrunk down to a billiard ball, would that pass the Planck length? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=92) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=94)