acid

The word acid originally meant ‘sour-tasting’, and came from Latin acidus. The term seems to have been introduced by the 17th-century scientist Francis Bacon, who in 1626, for example, described sorrel as a ‘cold and acid herb’. The chemical sense came along at the end of that century because most common acids taste sour.

The acid test was originally a method of testing for gold using nitric acid. An object made of gold will show no signs of corrosion if imersed in nitric acid, unlike one made of some other metal. By the end of the 19th century the expression had come to denote any situation that proves beyond douby a person’s or thing’s suitability or quality.

Acid Test can also refer to financials – The acid-test, or quick ratio, compares a company’s most short-term assets to its most short-term liabilities to see if a company has enough cash to pay its immediate liabilities, such as short-term debt. The acid-test ratio disregards current assets that are difficult to liquidate quickly such as inventory.

The Australian and New Zealand expression put the acid on, meaning ‘to extract a loan or favour from’, is a reference to such a test – the would-be borrower is seen as ‘testing’ their victim for resistance or weakness.

An acid is a chemical that gives off hydrogen ions in water and forms salts by combining with certain metals. Acids have a sour taste and turn certain dyes red. Some acids made by the body, such as gastric acid, can help organs work the way they should. An example of an acid is hydrochloric acid.

This article is one in a series of articles on the Origins of English Words and Phrases. As a professional writer one has to have an extremely good command of the English Language in order to communicate decent marketing and SEO Strategies for clients.

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