A question of semantics
Margaret
came up at work the other day.
If you have clothing that has mistakenly been splattered with bleach can you refer to said clothing as “stained”?
It was my contention that you could not, in fact, call bleach splattered clothes “stained”, but rather they had to be referred to as “discolored”.
Let the word nerd fights begin.
6 Responses to “A question of semantics”
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February 11th, 2011 at 11:54 am
I do not know about “discolored”. In this context it is less a descriptor than it is a straight up joke.
Back when I worked in a soils lab where splashed chemicals could occasionally remove the color from cloths I always just referred to it as “bleached” or perhaps “bleach spotted”.
February 11th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Bleached, bleach-spotted, discolored, all OK in my book. Stained, not so much. Ruined, depends on whether said person is going for the classic ’80’s “I paid double the price for pre-ruined clothing” look. 😉
Just my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary.
February 13th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Rather than “discolored”, how about “de-colored”?
February 21st, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Well, since a “stain” is, by definition, a discoloration produced by foreign matter having penetrated into (or chemically reacted with a material), and is a spot not easily removed, you can indeed state that the article of clothing in question is stained.
And, bravo, with the “pre-ruined” reference. I actually just recently acquired a pair, and stained them further by mistake with bleach, which I thought was detergent.
Was that what happened to you, Margaret?
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Ah, no. At least not this time. 🙄
No it was a member of my staff who noticed big white blotches on her otherwise purple scrub shirt.
Bummer on the new stains on the new jeans, but bravo for the most comprehensive definition of “stain” ever seen on UADN.
Caitlin is the official winner of this word nerd fight.
March 4th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
*Spins around on a desk chair*
😀