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> the expense and side effects of chemicals What does that mean? Everything is made of chemicals.

• amanaplanacanal 5y ago
  From context I’d say they mean fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides. Edit: you will probably find that many words have multiple meanings, and it is not hard to find words that have one specific technical meaning and a different one in colloquial usage. Organic is another common one.
• samatman 5y ago
  Yes, words are contextual and don't always mean the same things every time they're used. I had zero difficulty understanding the post you're replying to— and neither did you. It doesn't even annoy me any more, probably because, as a chemist, I got it out of my system years ago. The time one of my second cousins responded to my telling her my major by making a face and saying "I don't like chemicals" does kind of stand out...