Since we cook food in a microwave, are we microwav-ing it?

At home, we refer to using the microwave to cook or defrost food as "nuking" it. Very un-PC in nuclear-free NZ!

[puzzled emoticon]Yes, what else?

I zap food in my mirowave-- unless to annoy my children i zap it my radar-range..

Zap, nuke. These are the common verbs for the process. Microwave is a little more formal(ha!). I prefer mike but no one else I know uses it. Folks do seem to understand what I mean when I use it so I guess it gets at least partial credit.

I've never used this, but it occurs to me that irradiate is a good word to describe what one does to food in a microwave.

My mother-in-law nukes her food in the microwave. She's very proper and formal about her kitchen activities, appliances, gadgets, and terminology, and I always want to laugh when she says she's going to nuke the broccoli

Like Faldage, I mike my food as well. When I'm feeling particularly creative in the kitchen, I will nukrowave it (I don't believe I've ever had to spell it before - an ugly brute when you write it, but fun to say).

In reply to:

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Irradiate

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Probably not a good choice in this context. There is a process being used in the USA (don't know about elsewhere) whereby food is irradiated by radioactive isotopes or something to preserve it. Has been approved for use by the relevant govt. authority and irradiated products are on the market, althoug I've never seen them and they don't seem to be popular (no surprise emoticon).

More on Irradiate-- vs Nuke or Mike..

Microwaves are radio/sound waves-- very high frequence-- if you start with waves (say on the ocean) and keep making the wave smaller and smaller... you eventually would get to 60 Hz-- or middle C-- and make them smaller and smaller-- and you get to micro waves-- (which you can neither see or hear..)

Mirco wave ovens use the same range of waves as radar systems... (hence a Amana's brand of Radar Ranges-- an early term for Micro waves..)

Some one in US first notice you could "see" an object in sound waves--and before WWII there was a crude Radar system set up (the german's had a lot of Radar) but it was pretty crude and couldn't tell a flock of birds from a B52-- so lots of false alarms.

The Brits actually came up with a very much improved system using a magnatron--but by then, where deep into WWII and didn't have the resource to develop a working product on a large scale.

They pretty much gave the technology to US, in return for us actually building a good quality working radar system that could be mounted in a plane..

During the war, pilots noted that coffee(tea) stores near the radar machine got/ stayed hot (in the unheated bombers) and learned to use the radar equipment to heat coffee and meals.

Post war, the technology was used to build Microwave ovens.. I saw my first in a VA hospital in the late 1960's...
I am sure there is a web site somewhere with the names of all the engineers, and the frequency range of a Microwave oven... You could LIU if you want more than this thumb nail history..

I dimly remember from the early 60s (before they were the 60s) the Student Union had what they called an infrared oven that they used to heat sandwiches and the like but I think it acted more like a toaster oven. What freq range is infrared? In the Navy we used to refer to the communications ETs as DC techs because they worked with low frequencies around 5-10 MHz. Our lowest frequency radar was around 500 MHz.

All of the meals I cook have instructions in relatively small print that say "Microwave on high for three minutes; stir; then microwave for another five minutes on low" or similar words. It would never have occurred to me that microwave wasn't a verb, but my at-work dictionary does not have it as a verb. Interesting.

while the US government is kind enough to call me an engineer (Sr. Network Engineer) i learned most of my math and physics as general reading--
so waves start out big-- (low frequency sound-- that we can't hear-- then move on to audible waves-- higher frequency is is radio-- and at the far, far far away end of the spectrum is light (Einstein's unified theory? is light a wave or a particle-- and (don't let the smoke bother you-- i am firing up my steam powered brain here--) since a dopple effect it to more something into a higher frequency, and when you travel close to the speed of light, every thing get Red shifted-- I'd say, ultra violet is a lower frequency than infra red-- where light is moving past the visible sprectum.. and can only be "seen" as heat.

So since we don't know yet if light is a extremely high ( or micro nano? wave) wave... or if its particles.. An infra red oven would be totally different technology than Micro waves-- but 500 MHZ sound about right for microwave oven range--

Lots of places still use infra red lights to keep food warm, and the new GE advantix oven combines infra red (for one sourse of heat), with microwaves-- so on some level they are different...

and why DC tech for 5 to 10 Mhz range? (from low voltage systems?) I worked with everything from 5vDC to 3000vDC-- (you really want to be carefull with 3000 vDC! but it looks so pretty! the wires glow almost ulta violet with a corona...)

She of the magnetic personality asks: why DC tech for 5 to 10 Mhz range?

Low voltage had nothing to do with it. With our lowest frequency radar being 500MHz we considered 5-10 MHz low frequency and hyperbolized it to DC

Thanks for all of the information on microwave. I'm not sure that I followed the history. I, too, nuke or zap my food. I hadn't heard mike before. I loved nukrowave and will add it to my vocabulary immediately. So, I guess that microwave is an adjective as in microwave oven, a noun as in clean up that spill in the microwave and a verb, microwave on high for 3 minutes. My popcorn has been microwaved, so I must go open the bag and enjoy!!

My original answer to this was "what else" under two posts, as if to read either "microwave it, what else" or "nuke it, what else". I meant microwave it.[cheesy grin]

Nuke it is good, I like nuke. Zap could be confusing because zapping is what you do with one of those long black things that people who watch television point at television sets to make cretins go away. You could do this till when you went blue in the face without noticeably heating up the bits of dead animal.

so waves start out big-- (low frequency sound-- that we can't hear-- then move on to audible waves-- higher frequency is is radio-- and at the far, far far away end of the spectrum is light

I'm not wanting to be pernickety and off-topic, I'm just bored with being a "journeyman" and want to move onto a higher and non-sexist plane of expertise: so I shall just point out that raise sound waves to ever so high a pitch as you please, they don't form themselves into radio programmes.

The optical spectrum goes from red to violet. "Below" red is infrared, then microwave, then television, then radio. "Beyond" violet is ultraviolet, then x rays, then gamma rays.

Richard Dawkins doesn't mind confessing that he can never remember whether red is higher or lower than violet, so I am honourably accompanied. My mnemonic is to remember that radio waves can be "long wave", metres long, from which I work out they must be low frequency, and all the rest follow.

Thought. If an infrared device keeps food warm, and a microwave device cooks it, a television oven ought to reduce it to charcoal and sufficiently vigorous radioing should compress it to neutron matter.

NicholasW contributes: Zap could be confusing because zapping is what you do with one of those long black things that people who watch television point at television sets to make cretins go away

Mike it probably never happened because that's what they do to the cretins so that other people can zap them.

I'm afraid that "microwave" has established itself as a verb. I guess now I can start saying to my wife, "Do we have to icebox these leftovers?"

bob--

Be a good guy and get your wife something newer than a Icebox--(not that some of the nice old ones, made of quartered golden oak aren't beautiful) There are these new electric refrigerator..and yes then you can ask," Do we refrigerate these leftovers?"

I grew up with a Frigidaire, myself. A lot of my Southern friends used the brand-name Kelvinator to describe any old fridge. Don't think they Kelvinated their leftovers though.

Byb asks: Do we have to icebox these leftovers?

The long necked one retorts: Be a good guy and get your wife something newer than an Icebox...There are these new electric refrigerators.

Icebox is still used to mean refrigerator. We still dial touch-tone phones. Some of us older folks will remember when record albums were still albums, that is, collections of records in a notebook style binding with individual "pages". I heard another one today, but can't remember what it was. What I'm getting at is words that don't really describe the referent as well as they used to because the referent has changed although the function has remained the same. Is there a word to describe this kind of word?

faldage asks-- Is there a word to describe this kind of word? (icebox used instead of refrigerator)

(and she who, being irish, suffers from a congenital defect common to the irish-- she has no neck what ever-- and clearly doesn't take after her (mythical) father's side of the family!) replies:
archaic? obsolete?

i for one– "punch in" a number on my phone--usually into memory--so i can autodial–
and when watching "The Third Man" --I explained to my son what was meant by a "station to station" long distance call-- since we always now dial direct-- to everywhere--not station to station or person to person... and certainly we don't call up and schedule a long distance call! (he thought it quaint..)

and i buy new CD's--not albums.. (and i am still trying to get rid of some of the old vinyl! my kid keep saying they want it--but only if i store it...)

the NYTimes reported more than a year ago that telegraph was a dead word-- since there aren't any more "telegraphs" left-- no one sends or receives them, and even AT&T amended its legal name to AT&T from American Telephone and Telegraph--, so telegraph doesn't exist as a company name.
We fax, or email, voicemail, message– but we don't telegraph

I don't scrub my clothes-- I toss a load in the washer-- I do shift into high gear--but that only because i like driving stick--(I learned on a car with "3 on the tree" but now drive "5 on the floor")-- and who knows, maybe for a time, people did "icebox left overs" but we definately refrigerate them in my house--other wise we have found they get "pre eaten"

(Pre eaten was our term for "old" left overs-- some times it was evident that mold or some other organism had gotten arround to eating them before you did-- sometimes you just suspected it with out direct evidence..)

The love of Paris responds: i for one– "punch in" a number on my phone--usually into memory--so i can autodial–.

and underscores my point.

no-neck replies: archaic? obsolete? I would say archaic, since the word is still in use.

but this begs the asking of the lexicographical question: how is it determined when a word shall segué from archaic to obsolete, as marked in OED, W3, etc.

I have no answer to tsuwm's question except that perhaps it's at the whim of the lexicographer/harmless drudge-in-chief of the day.

But my hat is off to anyone who can (a) use "segue" correctly, and (b) expect his readers to actually understand it. [Bowing, scraping and admiration emoticon]

helen suggested get your wife something newer than an icebox

One of my favourites from my Dad's store of nostalgisms was his description of the ice vendors who would visit their home in Quetta. They would turn up with the giant blocks of ice sitting on pallets towed by camels. The blocks would go into the family's meatsafe, and last about two weeks. Segue that CapKiwi!

Segue that CapKiwi!

I would imagine it would segue itself quite satisfactorily over two weeks without any help from me, thank you! [prim emoticon]

Tsuwm: how is it determined when a word shall segué from archaic to obsolete

Capital Kiwi: But my hat is off to anyone who can (a) use "segue" correctly, and (b) expect his readers to actually understand it.

And (c) get the accents, if any, right?

I grew up in New York City in the 50's and I remember the iceman coming around with his huge tongs, lifting out blocks of ice and bringing them in to people who were still using iceboxes. This was in Washington Heights, near the George Washington Bridge in Manhattan. We also had a vegetable man who came around with a horse-drawn wagon.

Byb asks: Do we have to icebox these leftovers?
Faldage notes : Icebox is still used to mean refrigerator ... record albums were still albums

We had an ice box, between the kitchen and pantry and the iceman arrived weekly. He wore a heavy padded piece of leather on one shoulder upon which rested the block of ice, held steady with heavy duty tongs.The icebox was about 4 1/2 feet deep and eight feet wide.The slatted shelves allowed cool air to circulated. The top shelf (about five feet from the floor) was level with a window that opened on to the porch so ice cakes could be fed in that way without having to have the Iceman drip his way through the house. We called it "The Cooler" as we also had a "Fridge," which was short for Frigidaire. The Cooler was great for party prep as it could hold tray upon tray of goodies. In late 1941 the Cooler was converted to a huge coat closet and the pantry became the downstairs bathroom.
I don't recall using the word refrigerate. We asked : "Does this go in the cooler or the fridge?"
Re PHONES : I used the autodial awhile but found I forgot the numbers - which was a nuisance when away from home. The only autodial I have now is 911 in case I need an ambulance or a policeman or a firefighter.
Re ALBUMs : The album vs. Compact Disc problem is where to PLAY a 33rpm Vinyl record? Fortunately my son found a SAMSUNG unit that had record player, two tape players, a triple CD player tray and an AM/FM radio. The unit is currently available and delivers a decent sound. Not Bose quality but not bad.
... "Gee how lucky can you get ... " [musical note here]
wow

From the wise old woman: The only autodial I have now is 911

.........There was a joke on an old (last century sometime) TV show. The new office assistant had programmed the phone system so that you could get 911 by speed-dial using *37

and:The album vs. Compact Disc

.........I did not intend my comment on albums to indicate any reference to CDs. It was in reference to single LPs being referred to as albums. The original albums from the days of 78rpm were needed if you wanted to put more than about 6 minutes on a single sales unit. Anyone who listened to any classical music was familiar with multiple recording albums. When the same amount of music became available on one disc that single unit was still referred to as an album. On this note I have noticed some tendency on the part of some people to start to refer to a CD as a record and then apologize and say, "I mean CD." This despite the fact that the word record carries with it no explicit reference to the medium. Folks generally explicitly say LP or vinyl when referring to a 33-1/3 rpm recording. Record was never, as far as I know, used to refer to tapes.

In reply to:

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icebox

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Interesting that others (I thought it was only my family) use Kelvinator or Frigidaire for refrigerator. This happens not just in English. I have an Italian friend whose mother came to the U.S. when she was about 50 and never learned English at all well; she didn't speak Italian well either, her language was Calabres', which is similar to Sicilian. She called the refrigerator "lu frigideru".

Faldage, thanks for putting this one up. I've inherited my grandmother's and mother's collections of 78s, some of which are in boxed albums as you suggest. Try explaining what these are to some people!

A friend who worked for Parlophone about the time that they struck lucky with The Beatles(?) once told me that debate over what LPs should be called (including the use of album) raged unchecked through the record industry for a couple of years until, of course, the public settled it for them.

Cheers

CapK notes: the public settled it for them

As so often it will.

This despite the fact that the word record carries with it no explicit reference to the medium. Folks generally explicitly say LP or vinyl when referring to a 33-1/3 rpm recording.

I beg to differ. Most people I know refer to a 45rpm vinyl as a record, a 33 1/3 rpm as an album or LP. I have never heard anyone use the word vinyl except on U.S. television. Here there is a distinct difference in pronunciation. When pronounce wreck-urd it is explicit to the medium. When pronounce ree-cord it is not.

When pronounce wreck-urd it is explicit to the medium.

Been listening to Oasis too often, Bel. Gawd, that Liam!

For us, record meant either a 45 or a 33.3, or even a 78. We started referring to vinyl only when CDs came in. Record, the noun, has just about dropped out of use. It's either "vinyl" or the speed, tape or CD (and, now - presenting DVD, the newest term to confuse us all!).

I did not intend my comment on albums to indicate any reference to CDs. It was in reference to single LPs being referred to as albums.
Ah-Ha ! Misread. Sorry. Interesting point and no, I never heard tape recording called records ...
My first Messiah recording was a six-record, 12-sides set (1947) !!
Liked the joke. Tooooo true.
wow

The Backstreet Boys, who range in age from 20 to 28, refer to one of their CD's as an album.

OK, C.K., let's see now:
I can segue from one topic to another by starting a
new paragraph.

Do I get to see the top of your bared head?

Also--third time I've had to do this, first time by my
choice: a belated welcome to all who joined during the days I was away.

No Jackie, only once per bulletin board ...

No Jackie, only once per bulletin board ...

Now, if you have bowed to me before, I must confess that I do not recall the occasion. You did not kneel and propose to me, I proposed to you. And you used nearly the same weak excuse, too... As far as I know, you are the only board member who has received a proposal of marriage from another!

Jackie shocked me with: As far as I know, you are the only board member who has received a proposal of marriage from another!

He told you?! He promised me he wouldn't tell anybody! So much for sparing my feelings!

So much for sparing my feelings

There, there, my sweet Max--fear not, you are greatly loved,
though perhaps worship from afar isn't always very noticeable.

Now Maxie, you know I can't keep a secret . And you did say "give me a ring" so nicely, too.

In reply to:

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Jackie shocked me with: As far as I know, you are the only board member who has received a proposal of marriage from another!

He told you?! He promised me he wouldn't tell anybody! So much for sparing my feelings!

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I know I'm new here, but surely, if you feel you must indulge in such off-topic banter, ought it not at the very least be in "Wordplay and Fun" or, better yet, in private exchanges?

I know I'm new here, but surely, if you feel you must indulge in such off-topic banter, ought it not at the very least be in "Wordplay and Fun" or, better yet, in private exchanges?

You must be pretty new to still think that. You see, any word uttered on this board is fair game for an off-shoot thread. Any thread has the possibility of spawning new life in a subject completely unrelated. It's a little like the parallel dimension theory. One event can spew history in a drastically different direction.

Any thread has the possibility of spawning new life in a subject completely unrelated.

Couldn't have put it better myself! Yup, nemo, even one little word can lead to numerous new posts here! And that's one of the things that makes this place so interesting: what on earth will be said next?

Hey--I wonder if any of this would have any publication merits? Anu, Anu--you might have some easy money here!

Only this morning I saw ice being delivered to the warung at the end of our street. A warung is a roadside stall selling simple meals such as fried rice or noodles, or a small kiosk selling packets of noodles, soap, toothpaste, sweets, mosquito coils, and other small essentials, including soft drinks, which are kept in a chest with blocks of ice, replenished daily. The ice is usually delivered on a handcart, something like a large squared off wheelbarrow.

Incidentally, a small internet cafe is called a warnet, short for warung internet.

Bingley

Most people I know refer to a 45rpm vinyl as a record, a 33 1/3 rpm as an album or LP

The 45 being a single song per side format would have replaced the original 78; the 33 1/3 would have replaced the multi-record album format.

I did notice the word record being used to refer to a CD in the copyright notice on a German CD (from the series, Heilige Liturgie {Musik?} der Ostkirchen) that I was listening to the other day. I'll start a general check on my CD collection.

Venders in NY still get blocks of ice in the summer, and cover them with a heavy leather cloth-- and then uncover them to "shave" them with a small metal plane that shaves the ice and collects it--

Our shaved ice is serverd with simple fruit flavored syrup--(about $1 for a 10 oz cup, piled high) Not like the shaved ice desserts i had in Indoesian restaurants-- with sweet corn, pea flour threads, and red bean paste..
I think those to be interesting food-- but not quite dessert!

I too, (following an other post) remember the ice man comming round-- we had an electric refrigerator, but the fish monger got ice twice a week, from a big sawdust lined truck. The ice man had a big grinder, and would grind the block into chips, and we all wanted some of the ice chips.. and i was in my teens (late '60's) before we stopped getting fruits from the fruit vender on his horse drawn wagon-- the junk man had a wagon too, The grindstone man had a bike like contraption, that could either let him peddle away-- or turn the grindstone. But by the '60's he was in a truck. I still have a grindstone man that come up my block-- and all the women run out into the street with our knives drawn!-- he clangs his bell, and goes very slowly... and then stops and sharpens all my knives, and scissors too.

Its stange-- but that is one of the things i like about NY-- this big modern city still has shaved iced and grindstone's coming round, ringing their bells... a sort of timelessness.

Our shaved ice is serverd with simple fruit flavored syrup

Funny you should mention that. The past three years I've had a summer job at a Hawaiian Shave Ice confectionary along the "Loveland" bike trail. (There are plans to make this bike trail run from Cincinnati to Cleveland.) Anyway, At this place we have an ice shaver in which you simply put bags of small cubed iced and it shaves it that way. Much easier than a huge block of ice and an exposed blade. I counted once, and I think we have about 55 flavors at this place. It's a great job, especially when there are concerts in the park across the trail. And of course, no, I don't have a real job, I'm still in high school and I spend too much time here.

What was once shaved ice is now shave ice, and I now see "ice tea" on menus, instead of the erstwhile "iced tea". Is there a trend to drop the "d" from adjectives, and what do you think of this?

Which brings us to one of my favorite queries:
Which would you rather drink? An ice cold beer or a nice cold beer?

>What was once shaved ice is now shave ice, and I now see "ice tea" on menus, instead of the erstwhile "iced tea". Is there a trend to drop the "d" from adjectives, and what do you think of this?

You may well laugh at my educate guess, but I think it's a much-publicize trend largely attributable to misinform people whose overrate teachers should have made more concert efforts to ensure that their underprivilege students received a well-round education.

Jazz: There are plans to make this bike trail run from Cincinnati to Cleveland.

It must have done something very bad? That's a l-o-o-ng way, Jose!

The former is an abomination. The latter is an oxymoron.

Ted wanders off to make sure his Guiness is cool, NOT COLD DAMMIT!!!!

Say, Ted, another thing we have in common... I like my pint closer to room temperature.

Oh- Ice cold--or even better, served over ice..
I am not much of a beer drinker, and even in US, the idea of putting beer into a glass with ice, is unacceptable-- most beer drinkers say Yuck!-- some think i should be stopped from doing something so disgusting in public, but i like it that way.

Maybe you don't put ice in your beer in the States, but you sure as hell chill it to within an inch of its life! Every time I drink beer in the States, the first swig just about has my fillings exiting, stage left.

>Every time I drink beer in the States, the first swig just about has my fillings exiting, stage left.

I recognise the problem, we had a friend from Venezuela and when he came to the house we had to put all the beer in the freezer as the fridge just wasn't cold enough for him! Ouch!

From Doug: Say, Ted, another thing we have in common... I like my pint closer to room temperature.

From Helen: even in US, the idea of putting beer into a glass with ice, is unacceptable-- most beer drinkers say Yuck!-- some think i should be stopped from doing something so disgusting in public, but i like it that way.

Proving once again that de gustibus non est disputandum. (That phrase is so universal that even I can mangle it in 4 languages!) But perhaps the two views might converge when "room temperature" shoots up above 30 degrees Celsius.

I say this because the Germans in Namibia often take their beer with ice, something they wouldn't dream of doing in Bavaria.

an aside to the question of how to serve beer:

many 'liquor' stores will have cases of beer stacked in the aisles at reduced prices from those applied to cases from the coolers. this time of year (winter), the quick fix for this in the Upper Midwest is to stick the case in a snowbank on the deck....

It tastes pretty bad if we drink it at a reasonable temperature (Excessively cold and excessively hot beverages, and food in general, tend to deaden the taste receptors).

In a related story: The Dictionary of Misinformation, a small volume dedicated to the debunking of popularly held beliefs, although generally lacking in humor, has the following entry regarding the beer drinking habits of the English:

Many people believe that the English drink their beer warm. The English do not drink their beer warm. They drink it at room temperature, which no one who has spent any time in England is likely to confuse with warm.

Poster: Jeffrey
Subject: Re: Shaved ice/shave ice

What was once shaved ice is now shave ice,

"Shave Ice" is particular to Hawaii. Sort of pidgen I think. Makes sense as it was a Hawaiian stand in Cal. Hawaiian shave ice is the fruit syrup and yummy.
wow

Its interesting how state liquor regulations change marketing from state to state.

NY States Liquor laws are famously arcane.. Liquor stores in NY almost never sell beer-- beer is sold by beer and soda distributors, who can also sell only NYS wines. Wines from out of state must be sold in liquor stores.. Most vendors who are licenced to sell beer can also sell NYS wine– but not any out of state wines-- out of state produced wine can only be sold by liquor stores This actually causes problems since it make it technically illegal for me (or any one in NYS) to
1) purchase a case of California wine in CA, and carry it home with me on the plane (or in my car)
2) it also makes it illegal to purchase out of state wine over the internet-- unless the seller/distributor has a NYS liquor licence.

So if i want so Zild wine i have to go to the liquor store, but NYS wine is available in my grocery store!

Even the large discount liquor store associated with Costco don't have beer-- Costco carries it.

many of the beer/soda distributers don't have coolers-- in the summer they chill the whole warehouse/store to 40 f. (what that 3 or 4 or so C.?) or so, in the winter they open all the doors or in some other way vent in outside air-- its been close to 0 c all week, a bit colder at night. beer goes skankie really fast at NYC summer time temps. (33 to 37 c. not being uncommon.)

Curiously, for many years, (but alas, no longer) the largest wine producing county in NYS was Kings County-- known to most as Brooklyn. Manishevitz (unsure of spelling) had a large winery/factory for producing Kosher food in Brooklyn, and the produce more wine than any single one of the upstate finger lakes "wine country" counties!

Since we cook food in a microwave, are we microwav-ing it?

No. The microwave is cooking it.
We walk. We drive. We sing. We can do lots of things. We cannot cook food, however, anymore than we can fly to Paris. I've heard that a very rare steak is done after being held in the armpit for two minutes, but I doubt this.

English beer is drunk neither warm nor at room temperature. A good cellarer keeps it at some exact coolish temperature, I forget what, but about 13 C. Warmer or colder than that is distinctly less perfect.

This is never room temperature, even if it's that or colder outside, because if it is cold out, the pub will have a roaring fire (or at worst a nasty technological equivalent).

No. The microwave is cooking it.

Okay, metameta, go right ahead and take all the fun out of things!