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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 3
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 3 |
Pickwickian made me quickly think of picric acid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picric_acidIt's an innocent sounding name. But if you ignore the bottle of picric acid in the back of the store room, salts condense and crystalize in the bottle making it explosive and very sensitive to shock. Not no naive or innocent.
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
Put some picric acid in your Pickwick tea and you'll have a blasting picknick.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
Back in my college days, there was a major emergency in the old Nat Sci building. As someone was going through some old stuff (probably in anticipation of a move to a new bldg), someone came across an ancient jar containing picric. Alarm and consternation ensued. Firetrucks, disposal units, hazmat units, ems personnel, police, etc. Pretty entertaining to those of us safely across the street in the engineering complex. Well, it was entertaining, until we started to wonder what forgotten relics awaited rediscovery in the dungeons of our own castles.
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293 |
Thanks, Pau, for the Wiki link. I just learned something new. Sounds to me like: discovering Picric is no Picnic !!
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
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