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 #2 (permalink) Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:53 pm Sulphur |
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Wow, what a comeback, Tom -- you've been busy as a bee!
I think it's sulphur, but am not quite sure. What I do know for certain is that breathing it in is unhealthy. |
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Conchita
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Posts: 2826
Location: Madrid, Spain
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| #3 (permalink) Mon Nov 06, 2006 13:01 pm The material on a match-stick |
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So, which do you prefer -- the match stick was lighted or the match stick was lit?
TOEIC listening, photographs: Enjoying a boat ride |
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Torsten
Learning Coach
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| #4 (permalink) Mon Nov 06, 2006 13:11 pm Lit vs. lighted |
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| Torsten wrote: |
| So, which do you prefer -- the match stick was lighted or the match stick was lit? |
I always use 'lit' as the past tense and past participle of the verb 'to light'. |
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Conchita
Language Coach
Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 2826
Location: Madrid, Spain
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| #5 (permalink) Mon Nov 06, 2006 13:18 pm The material on a match-stick |
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M.Swan suggests that lighted is better as the third form of a verb whereas lit is better as an adjective.
1- The candles have been lighted.
2- Dimly-lit rooms.
What is your opinion?
Tom |
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 Tom
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 30 May 2006
Posts: 2103
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| #6 (permalink) Mon Nov 06, 2006 13:19 pm The material on a match-stick |
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Hi Tom
I wouldn't worry about the specific material at all. Instead I'd say:
The head of the matchstick was wet, therefore, it could not be lit/lighted! 8)
By the way, check your spelling:
specific :wink:
Amy
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Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
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Posts: 8316
Location: USA
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| #7 (permalink) Wed Nov 08, 2006 13:43 pm Matches |
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Here’s a bit more on matches:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match
http://www.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/phosphor.htm
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In 1669 the Hamburg merchant and alchemist Hennig Brandt heated the residue from evaporating urine with powdered charcoal, and condensed the vapor that was evolved into a waxy solid. This solid glowed in the dark, without heat, an astonishing phenomenon. He called the mysterious substance phosphorus, taken directly from the Greek phosphoros, "light-bringer." This was also the name of the planet Venus as morning star, "Lucifer" in Latin. The discovery created quite a stir, and soon nobody was throwing away urine. Travelling alchemists amazed royal audiences, and it was the talk of the time. A normal person excretes about a gram of phosphorus daily.
(...)
In 1845, A. Schr?tter of Vienna discovered how to prepare red phosphorus, which is insoluble and nonpoisonous. Phosphorus sulphide could now be prepared safely from red phosphorus. Today's matches are made with pine sticks impregnated with ammonium phosphate to discourage afterglow, and impregnated with paraffin wax for easy burning. The heads of "strike-anywhere" matches are a mixture of potassium chlorate and sulphur or rosin, held together with glue. On the tip is a mixture of P4S3 and pulverized glass for friction. |
Those 'strike-anywhere' matches (which I've never found in my part of the world) must be like the ones used by cowboys in the old westerns – they often struck them on the soles of their boots in a typically nonchalant manner. 8) |
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Conchita
Language Coach
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Posts: 2826
Location: Madrid, Spain
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| Definition of 'aton' | The use of thus: 'Hold the wheel in both hands, thus' |
