[Ads-l] to "science"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

A quick search in Andy Weir's 2011 novel "The Martian" (using the
Internet Archive) produces no matches for "have to science the shit
out of this". Hence, Drew Goddard may have introduced this line in his
screenplay.

Here are some examples from x-twitter of science used as a verb,
beginning in 2007. The second tweet below points to a cartoon that may
have helped popularize the verb form. (I have not checked this in the
cartoon.) Verbing is a perennial topic.

[Begin xtwitter info]
https://x.com/makingagame/status/467523382
Christine Brownell @makingagame
I'm sciencing as fast as I can!
2:12 AM, Dec 4, 2007
[End xtwitter info]

[Begin xtwitter info]
https://x.com/amberayoder/status/40803474765520899
Amber Yoder @amberayoder
I'm sciencing as fast as I can! - Professor Farnsworth, Futurama
11:01 AM, Feb 24, 2011
[End xtwitter info]

[Begin xtwitter info]
https://x.com/nazmraz/status/109651142585237504
return of the naz @nazmraz
It's a valid concern. Why are scientists always looking into
microscopes and playing with rats and never actually sciencing?
@writingcrap
11:37 AM. Sep 2, 2011
[End xtwitter info]

[Begin xtwitter info]
https://x.com/asampson/status/187659300213239808
asampson @asampson
I HAVE TO... SCIENCE!
5:53 PM, Apr 4, 2012
[End xtwitter info]

[Begin xtwitter info]
https://x.com/doctorhotpants/status/331949036380753922
Dr Lauren Lewis @doctorhotpants
@Drsilb If I told you, I'd have to science you to death...You remember
 Dr. Taft, don't you?
9:49 PM · May 7, 2013
[End xtwitter info]

[Begin xtwitter info]
https://x.com/Emiliee_lili/status/467645676873347072
Emilie @Emiliee_lili
After this physics exam I never ever ever have to science again!
8:39 AM · May 17, 2014
[End xtwitter info]

Garson

On Sun, Jun 14, 2026 at 8:35 AM Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
>
> The _locus classicus_ for this is the 2015 movie _The Martian_, where Matt Damon declares "I'm gonna have to science the shit out of this."
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7CJrnaauHM
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
>
> On Sun, Jun 14, 2026 at 07:47:55AM -0400, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > "to iapply scientific findings."
> >
> > TV Commercial: "So we scienced it !"
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org