Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: SquarishTriangle on 18/11/2007 05:07:11
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This one might be a little more for those with a bit of science schooling behind them:
Are there any specific scientific terms that you recall having trouble grasping when you were first introduced to them, because you already associated those words with other meanings, but are now completely second nature?
For example, the word “PROCESS” always got me. It took some time to get myself to think of it as “a projection” rather than “a series of actions.”
Another one was the “NERVOUS system” which, back in school, always managed to fill my head with an image of someone with bravery issues.
And then there is of course the word “CLEAVAGE,” which now refers to any of:
1. the successive mitotic divisions of a zygote to form a blastula
2. a natural plane of weakness in a crystal structure
3. the breaking of molecular bonds
…to the point where its mention in general conversation leaves me to wonder for a moment why everyone has gone all giggly.
Got any of your own to add?