Timeline for Why are "hard water" and "soft water" so called?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Feb 19, 2018 at 0:23 | comment | added | Jelila | It is literally hard to 'work up a lather' in hard water areas. | |
| Feb 14, 2013 at 11:25 | comment | added | Autoresponder | @Jon Hanna: Sure. I also like Andrew Leach's post. I think his interpretation is not just straight to the point, but also derives the etymology straight out of human nature, which makes it sound very plausible-"drink the water and tell if it is hard or soft." | |
| Feb 14, 2013 at 11:08 | comment | added | Jon Hanna | @Thanks for the kinds words. I think this one is going to be a case where all we can do is add more possibilities and then arguments and counter-arguments for and against. I'm liking Xerxes idea that "soft" came first, because the idea that rain and dew water is better for skin seems to be very old, and "soft/hard" seems to have first referred to "rain/well" before people understood why some well water is also soft. So that it's related to soft skin is not unreasonable. | |
| Feb 14, 2013 at 10:39 | comment | added | Jon Hanna | The scientific way to determine temperature is to use a thermometer, but we don't have the word hot from "that which makes mercury expand in a tube". | |
| Feb 14, 2013 at 10:00 | comment | added | Autoresponder | @FumbleFingers:-) I found a wiki page, and have linked to that now, so both links in my answer are now updated. FYI. | |
| Feb 14, 2013 at 9:56 | history | edited | Autoresponder | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
changed hyperlink to wiki page
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| Feb 14, 2013 at 7:57 | history | edited | Autoresponder | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Changed a hyperlink to a better and more terse explanation of the concept
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| Feb 13, 2013 at 16:22 | history | edited | Autoresponder | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
removed italics, edited a couple of words
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| Feb 13, 2013 at 15:15 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | Does that imply pond skaters, for example, are able to grow bigger and fatter in hard water areas? :) | |
| Feb 13, 2013 at 13:19 | history | answered | Autoresponder | CC BY-SA 3.0 |