Like “does the Pope shit in the woods?” or “that train has sailed?”

Also, what good examples can you think of?

  • tal@lemmy.today
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    1 month ago

    Cambridge lists ‘dry cleaning’ as an example, a process that involves liquid and is thus antithetical.

    Ehhh…man, I dunno about that example, Cambridge. Like, wouldn’t sweeping involve cleaning something? Vacuuming?

      • tal@lemmy.today
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        1 month ago

        No, but if they’re going to assert that cleaning involves liquid, they would be counterexamples to such an assertion.

        • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          “dry cleaning” is a specific term for a method of laundering clothes that DOES require a liquid, but not soaking the clothes in water.

          Those things you mentioned are not counter examples, because they have nothing to do with “dry cleaning”.

          That’s like if I point out that peanuts aren’t actually nuts, and you respond with “but walnuts are nuts!”

          Yeah, walnuts are nuts, but that doesn’t have anything to do with peanuts and whether or not they are nuts.

        • SatyrSack@lemmy.one
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          1 month ago

          They are focusing on the dry part of the term. Using a liquid during the process goes against the dry part.

          • NielsBohron@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            I would tend to disagree with the Cambridge example, because liquids can be dry. “Dry” liquids are anhydrous, meaning they’ve been treated to remove any water.

            Source: Am chemist and I teach O-Chem, which frequently uses dry solvents, like anhydrous acetone.

            • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              But PERC, the chemical used in “dry cleaning” is NOT a dry liquid, so the existence of dry liquids is also not relevant to their example.

              I can’t figure out if the confusion is caused by unfamiliarity with the term dry cleaning, or just a feeble grasp of logic.

              • NielsBohron@lemmy.world
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                1 month ago

                PERC

                Perchloroethylene (aka tetrachloroethene) is a completely non-polar compound, so, yes, it is a dry liquid.

                • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  Fair enough. My initial quick google research implied otherwise.

                  I’m not claiming to be an expert, although I’m not finding anything that uses the term dry liquid to refer to Tetrachloroethylene. Sounds to me like another misnomer. But, I won’t say you’re wrong.