• wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      As a leftist chemistry teacher, I read it as “having attained union”, rather than “not ionized”, so YMMV with this heuristic

      ETA: (also, yeah, I have excellent job security until all public schools are abolished in the US)

  • LordTrychon@startrek.websiteEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    In his essay “To Tell a Chemist” (1965), Asimov proposed a simple shibboleth for distinguishing chemists from non-chemists: ask the person to read the word “unionized”. Chemists, he noted, will read un-ionized (electrically neutral), while non-chemists will read union-ized (belonging to a trade union).