Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Rude and dirty-sounding astronomy terms that should never be said in public among normal people (otherwise known as non-astronomers)

As requested by Bubba, here is an image of a galaxy that is quite nearby, as galaxies go, since we're in it.

Some years ago, Sky & Telescope magazine found that kids couldn't look at their web page on "Naked-eye astronomy," since parental-supervision software was flagging the word "naked." They ran an editorial proclaiming that the naked eye is dead: long live the unaided eye, which shall now be used in its place from now on.

Further rude and dirty-sounding astronomy terms that should never be said in public among normal people (otherwise known as non-astronomers) include:

- heavenly bodies

- occultations

- double degenerates

There are others, but I dare not say them in the climate of censorship in American academia today. 



6 comments:

  1. Frankie BowJanuary 6, 2016 at 3:37 PM

    We have homosocial reproduction, the tendancy for managers to hire in their own image.

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  2. Quarter Wave VerticalJanuary 6, 2016 at 5:24 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Quarter Wave VerticalJanuary 6, 2016 at 5:30 PM

    Technical courses are full of terms which might be considered politically incorrect--terms which have been used for decades and which are considered legitimate. In drafting, for example, one will encounter things such as pipe nipples, butt welds, and stopcocks. In electronics, there are male and female connectors.

    Over the years, though, there have been some concessions. I first learned the values of the various resistor colour bands from a rather rude phrase. That's been cleaned up considerably since then.

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    Replies
    1. Rosencrantz Andor GuildensternJanuary 7, 2016 at 6:15 AM

      Yeah, but those terms are OK, because they are used by "real people". Not them pointy headed poindexters.

      Delete
  4. Southern Bubba, Ph.D.January 7, 2016 at 2:53 AM

    That's one hell of a crazzzy photo.
    I imagine this is something like what Walt sees while he tokes on a joint and lies on the hood of his '74 Trans Am somewhere in East Texas.
    Beautiful.

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  5. MonicaJanuary 8, 2016 at 5:57 PM

    I have been trying to figure that out, but I still don't understand what's wrong with "occultations". Can anybody explain?

    ReplyDelete

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