Wordorigins.org

See ghost.

Mercury, element 80, has been known since antiquity. The name comes from the association of the metal with the planet Mercury by medieval alchemists. English use of the name dates to the 14th century and it is found in Chaucer’s Canon Yeoman’s Tale, from c.1395, the Canterbury Tale that is a treasure trove of alchemical terms:

What sholde I tellen ech proporcion
Of thynges whiche that we werche upon—
[...]
And of the esy fir, and smart also,
Which that was maad, and of the care and wo
That we hadde in oure matires sublyming,
And in amalgamyng and calcenyng
Of quyksilver, yclept Mercurie crude?

(What should I tell of each proportion
Of things which that we work upon—
[...]
And of the slow fire, and hot also,
Which that was made, and of the care and woe
That we had in our matters subliming,
And in amalgamating and calcining
Of quicksilver, called raw Mercury?)¹

See mercury.

I seem to be on a Supreme Court kick this week. This time it’s Justice Antonin Scalia attempting to school a lawyer on proper usage during oral arguments for Hemi Group v. City of New York held this past Tuesday:

I love South Park. Not only is it funny, iconoclastic, and an equal-opportunity offender, but they very often express a core truth that blasts away society’s preconceptions and prejudices. In this clip they take on the subject of definitions of offensive words, in particular the growing use of fag and gay as general terms of contempt that have little or nothing to do with homosexuality.

The full episode can be seen here. (Warning: the full episode is NSFW)

Element 79 is gold, one of the few elements whose name can be traced back to Old English. The metal, of course, has been known since antiquity. The word is recorded as early as c.725 in the Corpus Glossary, an early Latin-English dictionary:

Obrizum, smaete gold.
(Obrizum, refined gold).

And the Christ Church, Canterbury, Codex Aureus has this inscription from c.870:

Ic Aelfred aldormon ond Werburg min gefera begetan ðas bec æt haeðnum herge mid uncre claene feo, ðæt ðonne wæs mid clæne golde.
(I Alfred, alderman, and Werburg, my wife, obtained this book at a heathen temple with our pure money, that then was with pure gold.)¹

The chemical symbol for gold is Au, from the Latin name for the metal, aurum.

¹Oxford English Dictionary, gold¹, 2nd Edition, 1989, Oxford University Press, accessed 5 November 2009, http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50096546. 

The discovery of platinum, element 78, was announced in 1748 by Spanish scientist and colonial administrator Antonio de Ulloa, who had found the metal in the New World. The Spanish named the metal platina, little silver, on account of its resemblance to that metal. The name platina began to appear in English writings in 1752. In 1782, Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman latinized the Spanish name to platinum in his Sciagraphia regni mineralis, which was written in Latin.¹ Subsequently, the latinized version of the name caught on.

The chemical symbol for platinum is Pt.

¹Oxford English Dictionary, platinum, 3rd Edition, June 2009, Oxford University Press, accessed 4 November 2009, http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50181099.

We’re all familiar with the image of the crotchety grammarian, going off on some pet peeve or perceived a"abuse" of the language. Most of the time, these people can be either ignored, or, if they’re in a position of authority like a teacher or boss, temporarily accommodated. But occasionally, someone’s misinterpretation of grammatical principles can have real consequences. And when that misinterpretation is done by a US Supreme Court justice, the situation can be downright scary.

Iridium, element 77, was discovered in 1803 by English chemist Smithson Tennant. Tennant named the new element after the Greek goddess Iris, a messenger goddess, represented by the rainbow. Writing in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1804, Tennant explains:

I should incline to call this metal Iridium, from the striking variety of colours which it gives, while dissolving in marine acid.¹

The word iridescent also comes from the goddess’s name.

The chemical symbol for iridium is Ir.

¹Oxford English Dictionary, iridium, 2nd Edition, 1989, Oxford University Press, accessed 3 November 2009, http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50121124. 

Osmium, element 76, was discovered in 1803 by English chemist Smithson Tennant. Tennant named the new element after the Greek όσμή (osme), meaning odor, writing in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1804:

A pungent and peculiar smell [...] This smell [...] arises from the extrication of a very volatile metallic oxide; and, as this smell is one of its most distinguishing characters, I should on that account incline to call the metal Osmium.¹

The chemical symbol for osmium is Os.

¹Oxford English Dictionary, osmium, 3rd Edition, September 2009, Oxford University Press, accessed 2 November 2009, http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/00334489.