Re: Sauerstoff, sauer, Stoff

On 2008-05-01, Joe Fineman wrote:

A curious counterexample is the modern Hebrew word for oxygen,
humtsan, which was coined long after Lavoisier's mistake was
corrected, but perpetuates the misnomer, being derived from hamets
"sour". Surely the language institute might have thought of naming it
for fire instead!

Just to be consistent with everyone else?


In English, there are plenty of oxy compounds, but AFAIK in them it
always stands for oxygen, not acid (for which we have taken the
*Latin* word for sour). So we, too, must know a little Greek to see
the misnomer.

But we don't get hydrogen out of a hydrant!


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Sauerstoff, sauer, Stoff
    ... corrected, but perpetuates the misnomer, being derived from hamets ... Surely the language institute might have thought of naming it ... *Latin* word for sour). ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Sauerstoff, sauer, Stoff
    ... corrected, but perpetuates the misnomer, being derived from hamets ... *Latin* word for sour). ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: The case of the Hebrew word for "oxygen"...
    ... Surely the language institute might have thought of naming ... When a designation has been known to be misnomer for an extended period of time, it doesn't seem justified to calque it - especially since the people involved should know what they were doing. ... the modern hebrew word may have been in oral use before. ...
    (sci.lang)