[QUOTE=ewmayer;153604]If I recall correctly, the French have a similar reaction to certain exotic alloys composed of Plutonium, Tantalum and Indium.[/QUOTE]I would not think so : in the south of France the word PuTaIn (whore) is almost used as a pause between words, and in the north at least the youth use it the same way. Not every country is as adverse to using expletives publicly as the USA.

Jacob

[QUOTE=Batalov;153527]The chemists from Iran recently shocked the (slavic) community with the synthesis of another important [URL="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18280775"]taboo[/URL]. Ask any Russian (Bulgarian, Polish... there must be someone at your workplace) to read this article's title for you.[/QUOTE]
Speaking of curiosities between languages, the slang for penis (in English) is a word that means "thick" in German.

[url]http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/sillymolecules/sillymols.htm[/url]

Alex

[QUOTE=MooooMoo;153709]Speaking of curiosities between languages, the slang for penis (in English) is a word that means "thick" in German.[/QUOTE]

I believe "dick" for penis is American slang - can one of our UK readers, ahem, con"firm" or deny?

Yes, we Americans, we were ever a hopeful lot. ;)

We really need a "slang words for penis in the US and UK" thread - for instance I believe e.g. wang, boner, dong, stiffie, trousersnake, shlong, wiener, are all US-only appellations, although I'm not 100% sure about "stiffie". (anyway, she`s married to Andre Agassi now, hence off-limits to us anonymous forum ruffians in this context).

[quote=akruppa;153733][URL]http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/sillymolecules/sillymols.htm[/URL]

Alex[/quote]

Enough to write a book about... which he did!

p.s. You too! Are all of our beloved long standing avatars getting benched in favor of grainy pictures of questionable behavior or actors? At least Chigurh is back...

[QUOTE=ewmayer;153735]I believe "dick" for penis is American slang - can one of our UK readers, ahem, con"firm" or deny?[/QUOTE]It's common in English too.

A Google search for the script of Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" will turn up a delightful song on the subject.


Paul

[QUOTE=xilman;153755]A Google search for the script of Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" will turn up a delightful song on the subject.[/QUOTE]

Ah yes, I see "trousersnake" is also mentioned in that lovely sing-a-long. so the "dick" and "trousersnake" have been shaken out of the, um, "Yanks only" list - but "boner" is still standing proudly. Perhaps because in England he has to compete with the lead singer of the band U2?

[quote=bsquared;153738]
grainy pictures of questionable behavior or actors? At least Chigurh is back...[/quote]
...he is also just an actor! :smile:
Speaking of questional behaviour - it was with us from the very start:

[QUOTE=akruppa;153733][url]http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/sillymolecules/sillymols.htm[/url][/QUOTE]

Nice.

If I happen to meet a Sexithiophene at the oddly-named-compounds disco, I hope we can share the rapture that is a hefty bout of Fukalite, perhaps followed by a nice bit of Cummingtonite. I just need to get the lovely Sexithi to lay off the Moronic Acid...

"Oh, do Sparassol your exaggerated tales of chemical conquest!", cried the prudish naysayers.

Another well-known genomic blooper was naming a [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-fuculokinase"]certain[/URL] [URL="http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/Q8ZMC5"]gene[/URL].

The [URL="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jo0349227"]NanoPutians[/URL] facinating chemical story is also well known (in the silly molecules it is on page 2, undeservedly!); published in 2003, it has no rivals in deadpan serious chemical fun. Read the whole [URL="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/jo0349227"]article[/URL], it is great.