[Ads-l] dihydrogen monoxide

[Clai Rice]

Memories can be tricky, but I'm pretty sure I remember "be careful, this dihydrogen monoxide burns" as a middle school joke exactly on par with "your epidermis is showing." That would have been between 1974-77. 

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Benjamin Barrett" <mail.barretts at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Saturday, March 5, 2016 10:04:05 PM
> Subject: dihydrogen monoxide
> 
> I learned in chemistry that water is never referred to by its chemical name,
> dihydrogen monoxide, but for some time now, people have been making spoof
> warnings of the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide and posting them on social
> media. Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dihydrogen_monoxide
> <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dihydrogen_monoxide>) has this as a word and
> Wikipedia has it as a hoax
> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax), dating it to 1983,
> which is before I took chemistry. The Oxford Dictionary site does not have
> this word.
> 
> Benjamin Barrett
> Formerly of Seattle, WA
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 

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