when the words are exactly wrong

[adrian_turtle]

Last week, I saw a sign in the window of a dry cleaners: "We now use organic solvent!"
I knew what they meant, even though the words were precisely wrong. The whole idea of dry cleaning started with using organic solvents like benzene or kerosene, instead of water, to clean fabric that might be damaged by water. Unfortunately, those solvents are flammable, carcinogenic, and otherwise problematic. 70-80 years ago, the industry replaced them with less flammable organic solvents. When the environmental and cancer risks were recognized* in the 1970s, they started trapping and recycling the vapor, so workers would not be exposed to as much solvent and the stuff would not pollute as much air and water.

More recently, there has been research into methods of dry cleaning without organic solvents. Some use liquid carbon dioxide, some use silicones, and some use small amounts of steam and various tricks to prevent water from damaging the fabric. Carbon dioxide is not an organic compound, despite the presence of carbon. Silicones are considered mixed inorganic-organic compounds. And water is not organic, despite commonly being found in living things.

I think I know what happened. The dry cleaners were presumably going to some trouble to use a solvent that was safer and more environmentally friendly than what they had used before. They wanted to attract customers from neighborhood residents who prefer organic vegetables...


*I mean "recognized" by the industry. Researchers generally recognize risks before that awareness shows up in regulations or market pressure. I don't know what the time lag was in this case.

Comments

[wild_irises]

Way back in the 1970s, I had an argument with a roommate who was claiming that "sea salt was more organic than table salt."

Exactly the opposite unawareness of the meaning of the term.

[adrian_turtle]

I'm not sure I'd call it an "opposite unawareness." It seems to come from the same misapplication of "organic = environmentally-friendly."

An idea that seems closely related is that "unrefined" foods, insofar as they are regarded as more wholesome and nutritious, are always more "pure" than they would be if refined. I can understand being confused by how many food processors add stuff to food between refining it and packaging it. It's still weird to hear: "It's very important to get the UNREFINED honey. The supermarket stuff isn't good enough. I can only tolerate pure honey, so I have to read the label and make sure there isn't anything in it but the honey."

[adrian_turtle]

I don't mean to imply my neighbor is being unreasonable in her quest for some particular honey. I hope she finds what she's looking for, though I am very amused at her inability to name it.

[jesse_the_k]

That's charming! An oxymoronic mondegreen or somesuch.

I know one of these in ASL: there's a quick, tense hold that modifies a motion to add the meaning "particularly, especially." One of the motions which can grammatically be so modified is "slow". So one has a quick, tense, slow == inordinately slow, an archetypical slowness.

[adrian_turtle]

Oh, I like the idea of a quick hold to indicate an archetypical slowness!