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No pencils use “lead”. It’s just called lead because the original material used looks similar to lead ore. See manufacturing section here: https://en.m.wikiped

• bdcravens 2y ago
  The words we use are funny. I had a conversation with my wife yesterday explaining to her that "gas" (gasoline) wasn't a gas. (it can become one, but that's not where the name comes from)
  • lukan 2y ago
    And if you push the gas pedal, it does not mean more gasoline comes in, but more air (which then makes more gasoline comes in). And people fear, that soon too many of the undividable atoms will be divided.
    • bdcravens 2y ago
      I was watching a YouTube video the other day that called the accelerator the "gas pedal" - which makes sense, except it was a video about an EV. I wonder if that term will one day become disconnected from the original meaning, like "hang up" or the floppy save icon.
      • lukan 2y ago
        At least in german I saw EV cars described having a "strom pedal" (electricity/power pedal). More correct I guess, but also a bit odd. We will see, whether it will stick.
        • stavros 2y ago
          In Greek we call it "γκάζι", which means "natural gas", so it's already wrong. I'm fine with that persisting in EVs
      • Daneel_ 2y ago
        Most of the other terms are global ones (hang up, save icon, etc), but gas pedal is pretty specific to the US as far as I know, so it’s much less likely to hang around like that. Here in Australia it’s the accelerator, or accelerator pedal.
        • IndrekR 2y ago
          Estonian word is “gaasipedaal”, which pretty much means “gas pedal”. Gasoline is “bensiin”, no relation to that. The word for pedal comes from accelerator regulating gas-mixture valve (throttle) in carburettor. “Gas-mixture” here is air mixed with atomised fuel.
          • lukan 2y ago
            Funny, in german it is "Gaspedal" and "Benzin". (And gas means gas/air in german, but I never made the connection. With cars, "gas" means "speed")
          • int_19h 2y ago
            It's also literally "gas pedal" in Russian, although more often people just say "gas". To accelerate is to "give gas". The fuel itself is also "benzin" though. As I understand it's because benzene was the original anti-knocking additive.
    • parpfish 2y ago
      Unless it’s diesel, because there the accelerator causes more fuel to squirt in rather than opening the throttle body. But can do you call diesel gas?
      • pfortuny 2y ago
        We do in Spain (“voy a echar gasolina” is both used for diesel and gasoline)…
        • parpfish 2y ago
          In the US it’s context dependent. If you’re running low on diesel you’d say “I need to get some gas” and you’d get it from a gas station But if you’re talking about tractors saying that something has a “gas engine” specifically means it is not diesel
      • AnotherGoodName 2y ago
        Likewise anything new. The idea that it allows more air in that then allows more fuel is true for carbureted based engines. But they don’t actually exist outside of lawnmowers/chainsaws anymore. Everything from the timing to fuel injection and air intake is computer controlled.
        • parpfish 2y ago
          Really? My new-ish car (2019) just has the pedal connected to the throttle body with a cable. I’d assume that other changes to fuel injection would happen because it sensed more air coming in
          • MadnessASAP 2y ago
            They are confidentially incorrect, the best kind of incorrect, even cars with servo controlled throttle bodies (like mine) the pedal (largely) controls the position of the throttle plate. The ECU will then control the timing of the fuel injectors to achieve optimal combustion and cylinder pressures based on expected air intake. The ECU will also take inputs directly from the pedal, but only because that provides instaneous information, rather then waiting for sensors in the intake manifold, and eventually the exhaust manifold, to catch up. It always comes down to pedal controls air, air controls fuel. Edit, I'm a dirty liar: It doesn't ALWAYS come down to pedal -> Air -> Fuel. On engines with turbochargers it's possible for the ECU to delay fuel injection reducing the amount of power in the cylinder and increasing the temperature/pressure of the exhaust. This causes more power to be generated by the turbine which then accelerates. This then results in the linked compressor accelerating increasing pressure in the intake manifold which means the engine can burn even more fuel generating more power. All without the throttle plate changing position or the engine RPMs increasing. This trick isn't used in any meaningful way in production cars to the best of my knowledge, it is used in race cars to keep the turbo spoiled up at its optimal point prior to the start of the race. Also if your engine happens to be a turbojet instead of a reciprocating piston engine (all turbocharger, no cylinder), it's the only way you can control power.
  • Wowfunhappy 2y ago
    Well, but in this case they're just homonyms, like how the word "bank" can refer to the edge of a river or a financial institution. The gas in your car is short for "gasoline"; you wouldn't call oxygen a type of gasoline, it's a gas.
    • lallysingh 2y ago
      I think the original financial institutions were actually on the rivers to handle the business around river-transported cargo.
    • a1369209993 2y ago
      Actually, "bank" isn't just homonyms; both senses derive from circa-Proto-Germanic benc/bank: a bench or other raised area (either a bank counter or the raised ground adjacent to a riverbed). (And yes, this etymology is also shared with "bench".)