[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;514140]Seriously, though -- as soon as I saw [i]unionized[/i] in your post, I thought of Isaac Asimov's essay [i]To tell a chemist[/i]. He proposed two questions to tell a chemist from a non-chemist:[/QUOTE]How do you pronounce "periodic"?

Less cleverly, at least in the US we have an annoying pronunciational glitch amongst the halogens, whereby the second syllable in Iodine is pronounced "dyne" as opposed to Fl,Cl,Br,At whose second syllables are all pronounced "deen". Paul, how do you brits pronounce Iodine?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;514144]Less cleverly, at least in the US we have an annoying pronunciational glitch amongst the halogens, whereby the second syllable in Iodine is pronounced "dyne" as opposed to Fl,Cl,Br,At whose second syllables are all pronounced "deen". Paul, how do you brits pronounce Iodine?[/QUOTE]To rhyme with "teen".

It's the third syllable, after "eye" and "oh".

[QUOTE=xilman;514142]How do you pronounce "periodic"?[/QUOTE]
Hmm. I've always pronounced it something like "peer-ee-ODD-ic." I hadn't thought of alternate pronunciations... Let's see, chemistry... "periodic table" -- no, that's the same pronunciation... Oh, wait, "iodic." There we go! There must be an iodine compound similar to perchloric acid. That would probably be pronounced something like "purr-eye-ODD-ic acid."

Cool! If it was me, I'd write "per-iodic" for this meaning. [google google]

[url=https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/306/should-one-pronounce-periodic-the-same-in-periodic-acid-and-periodic-table]Should one pronounce "periodic" the same in "periodic acid" and "periodic table"?[/url]

The US pronunciation (corresponding to a different spelling) of the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust isn't as "yummy" as the British. But it's the same metal notwithstanding.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;514149]The US pronunciation (corresponding to a different spelling) of the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust isn't as "yummy" as the British. But it's the same metal notwithstanding.[/QUOTE]My view is that the US has it wrong in this case. OTOH, the US spells sulfur correctly. The British spelling is based on a misconception that the word derives from a Greek word which would have used the letter φ, generally transliterated as "ph".

One of my favo{,u}rite tongue-twisters concerns a conversation between a woman and the man whom she had employed to renovate her boats:

Are you aluminiuming 'em my man?

No, I'm copper-bottoming 'em Ma'am.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;514149]The US pronunciation (corresponding to a different spelling) of the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust isn't as "yummy" as the British. But it's the same metal notwithstanding.[/QUOTE]

I was going to note the apparent singularity of the US um-not-preceded-by-i ending for Aluminum, but then "Platinum" popped into my mind. So there is in fact a precedent for -inum in place of -inium, and one for which both UK and US use -inum.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;514160]I was going to note the apparent singularity of the US um-not-preceded-by-i ending for Aluminum, but then "Platinum" popped into my mind.[/QUOTE]

lanthanum
molybdenum

[QUOTE=GP2;514162]lanthanum
molybdenum[/QUOTE]

Those also occurred to me, but I decided to restrict things to elements having an 'i' before the 'n', to make the analogy as close as possible. It's elemental, my dear Watsion!

[QUOTE=xilman;514153]My view is that the US has it wrong in this case.[/QUOTE]
"It" referring to the spelling "aluminum."

From [url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/aluminum]Online etymology[/url], [quote][b]aluminum (n.)[/b]

1812, coined by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy, from alumina, alumine, name given by French chemists late 18c. to aluminum oxide, from Latin alumen "alum" (see [url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/alum?ref=etymonline_crossreference]alum[/url]). Davy originally called it alumium (1808), then amended this to aluminum, which remains the U.S. word, but British editors in 1812 further amended it to aluminium, the modern preferred British form, to better harmonize with other metallic element names (sodium, potassium, etc.).[/quote]So it seems that the Brit that [i]named[/i] the element got it wrong.

The Latin names for a number of metals, e.g. [i]aurum[/i] (gold), [i]argentum[/i] (silver), [i]cuprum[/i] (copper), [i]stannum[/i] (tin), [i]ferrum[/i] (iron), and [i]plumbum[/i] (lead) do not end in -ium.

[i]Platinum[/i] is formed from the Spanish diminutive [i]platina[/i] meaning "little silver" (the Spanish word for silver being [i]plata[/i]).

Then there's [i]helium[/i], a [i]non[/i]-metallic element. Well, they [i]thought[/i] it was a metal when it was discovered, but, only having been observed in Mr. Sun, it was difficult to test...

And there's the case of the [i]re-named[/i] metallic element. I became aware of this when I heard of a metallic ore called "coltan" being mined in Africa, containing metals used in cell phones, and the proceeds used to fund this or that horrific war. "OK, [i]tan[/i] is probably for [i]tantalum[/i]," I thought. "But [i]col[/i]?" I couldn't figure it out. So I looked it up. The "col" was for [i]columbium[/i]. I'd never heard of it. That was because it was discovered, named [i]columbium[/i], then mistaken for tantalum, then rediscovered and named [i]niobium[/i]. Both names were used until [i]niobium[/i] was officially adopted.

[QUOTE=GP2;514162]lanthanum
molybdenum[/QUOTE]
Hmm. Lanthanium.... Molybdenium.....Platinium? :max:

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