Well Fracking

[Bill Palmer]

Thank you Jesse.

Also got some Google hits, which I forgot to check before my post.  Seems to
derive from "fracture"


Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jesse Sheidlower" <jester at PANIX.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 10:42 AM
Subject: Re: Well Fracking


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Well Fracking
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 10:33:20AM -0400, Bill Palmer wrote:
>> I was stopped at a traffic light today behind a service truck belonging
>> to a plumbing company that advertised, inter alia, "Well fracking"
>>
>> Can't find that word anywhere.
>>
>> Any clues?  No wisecracks please.
>
> Oh, please? Just one?
>
> OED2 has a related sense under _sand-frac(k)ing_, defined as
> "A method of stimulating production from an oil field by
> forcing fluid containing sand grains into the reservoir rock."
> What I assume you saw was _hydrofracking_, which is basically
> pumping water under pressure into a well in order to expand
> its capacity without having to drill deeper, a more difficult
> process.
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
> OED
>
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