Wordie: Aurify: Comments

Comment by colleen, 10 months ago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:41:17 +0000

To Do: alchemy list.

Comment by reesetee, 10 months ago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:35:57 +0000

And mercury is what drove hatters mad.

Comment by uselessness, 10 months ago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:23:13 +0000

Oh, it's Latin. That makes sense. Thanks for posting those! Turns out plumbum (lead) is the root word for plumbing, a reference to traditional waterworks being made of that metal. Funny, that's been cited as one of the contributing factors toward the fall of Rome, as it led to brain disorders that may have compounded over several generations. Yet the word has made its mark on even modern language.

Comment by burntsox, 10 months ago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:03:32 +0000

Pb = lead - plumbum
Ag = silver - argentum
Na = sodium - natrium
Hg = mercury - hydrargyrum
K = potassium - kalium
Sb = antimony - stibium
W = tungsten - wolfram (German)

Comment by skipvia, 10 months ago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:45:03 +0000

As uselessness said elsewhere today, busted.

Tragically dorky is a great phrase, though.

Comment by uselessness, 10 months ago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:32:00 +0000

Haha, those are awesome! And yet, tragically dorky. ;-)

Comment by reesetee, 10 months ago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:31:14 +0000

An Olympic figure skater once had "GO4AU" as a license plate number. I think it was Debbie Thomas.

I believe the "aur" part comes from the original Latin for "gold," aurum.

Comment by skipvia, 10 months ago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:27:58 +0000

When Barry Goldwater was running against Lyndon Johnson, there were bumper stickers proclaiming "I'm for AU H20." I had to look that one up.

Comment by uselessness, 10 months ago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:01:43 +0000

Hey, good eye, I was wondering what the etymological connection was. I'm still confused about why they used such an odd chemical symbol for it, but there are quite a few elements that do that.

Comment by seanahan, 10 months ago

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:38:33 +0000

Notice the chemical symbol for Gold is Au.

Comment by uselessness, 10 months ago

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:20:36 +0000

To transform something into gold.