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Stop saying words and think about them instead
17 years ago
I had a random thought at work, or rather, a word just jumped into my mind, and sat there for a moment, waiting patiently until I was able to focus more fully upon it.
Against a flat black background, in white, lower-case, Times New Roman letters, was this word: detergent. It had me puzzled. Why would I just randomly think of the substance with which I clean my clothes?
Thinking about it as my body kept working autonomously of my mind, I got to wondering, where did the word come from? The presence of the prefix de- tells me that it is a thing that takes away something else.
My question to myself was: what, exactly?
Tergent? Is there such a word? Is there such a substance? And if there is, what is it comprised of? What causes it? Can something become turged, in that it needs detergent to become detergented?
Think about it, won't you?
Against a flat black background, in white, lower-case, Times New Roman letters, was this word: detergent. It had me puzzled. Why would I just randomly think of the substance with which I clean my clothes?
Thinking about it as my body kept working autonomously of my mind, I got to wondering, where did the word come from? The presence of the prefix de- tells me that it is a thing that takes away something else.
My question to myself was: what, exactly?
Tergent? Is there such a word? Is there such a substance? And if there is, what is it comprised of? What causes it? Can something become turged, in that it needs detergent to become detergented?
Think about it, won't you?
... here's your explanation.
Detergent - from Latin detergent - 'wiping away', from the verb detergere, from de- 'away from' + tergere- 'to wipe'
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