STANNOUS

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Dr. Goodword
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STANNOUS

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:46 pm

• stannous •

Pronunciation: stæ-nês • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Made of, containing, or otherwise pertaining to tin.

Notes: The active ingredient in fluoride toothpaste is stannous fluoride (SnF2), an antimicrobial chemical that bonds with the enamel to deter the effects of the acid and plaque buildup that eat away at the enamel. The acids and plaque are produced by microorganisms enjoying the carbohydrates and sugars in our mouths (another reason for reducing sugar and carbs). Of course, don't overdo it: you don't want stannous teeth like those of Jaws in the James Bond movies Moonraker and The Spy who Loved me.

In Play: The term stannous fluoride sounds so scientific that it is easy to overlook the fact that it refers to a common household metal. This word would have come in handy earlier in the century when wags called Henry Ford's Model T a Tin Lizzie. Owners could have retorted that it is a stannous Elizabeth, meaning the same thing but in classier terms. Wouldn't you rather eat food from a stannous container than a tin can? Are you musical or do you have a stannous ear. OK, OK, I'll stop.

Word History: Today's Good Word comes to us from Late Latin stannum "tin," originally an alloy of silver and lead. This word came from an earlier form, stagnum, whence Italian stagno, Spanish estaño, Portuguese estanho, Old French estain and Modern French étain. The Romance languages do not like words beginning with [s] + a consonant and resolve the problem by adding an initial [e]. Attaching the [e] still didn't satisfy the French, so they eliminated the [s] after appending the [e], hence étain. They do it all the time: état "state" and école "school". Stagnum may be of Celtic origin but that remains unclear.
Last edited by Dr. Goodword on Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Sat Jul 02, 2005 10:16 am

Portuguese estanho
Finally :roll:
They do it all the time: étate "state" and école "school".
One E too many there.

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Postby Garzo » Sat Jul 02, 2005 2:18 pm

In Devon and Cornwall, tin mining used to be big business. This was to the extent that certain centres of tin mining were given peculiar administrative provisions, and were called stannary towns, or stannaries. Each stannary was governed by a stannary court - a mini-parliament made up of local tin barons. The members of each stannary court were exempt from various taxes and interference from local crown officers. The special situation of stannaries resurfaced during the unpopular Poll Tax of the 80s. Some people bought a peppercorn share in a tin business in an ancient stannary as a loophole through Poll Tax legislation. Whether this was a legal defence or not remains moot, as all such were unceremoniously handbagged by the Iron Lady.

-- Garzo.
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Postby tcward » Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:35 pm

The special situation of stannaries resurfaced during the unpopular Poll Tax of the 80s. Some people bought a peppercorn share in a tin business in an ancient stannary as a loophole through Poll Tax legislation. Whether this was a legal defence or not remains moot, as all such were unceremoniously handbagged by the Iron Lady.
You mean they didn't get tin soldiers to protect them...?

-Tim :P

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Postby Stargzer » Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:05 pm

Time for a short chemistry lesson.

Stannous is used to denote a tin atom in an ionization state of +2. Tin's other valence state, +4, is known as stannic.

For example, stannous flouride is SnF[sub]2[/sub], but SnO[sub]2[/sub], is stannic oxide, also known as tin(IV) oxide, tin dioxide, or stannic anhydride. This is because the flouride ion has a valence of -1, but the oxygen ion has a valence of -2. Water is H[sub]2[/sub]O since hydrogen has a +1 valence. The sum of all of the positive and negative ions must add up to zero. The "IV" in "tin(iv) oxide" denotes the oxidation state of +4. Stannous flouride is also known as tin(II) flouride. The uses of Stannic Oxide include:
Manufacture of milk-colored, ruby & alabaster glass, enamels, pottery, putty, mordant in printing & dyeing fabrics, in fingernail polishes.
Regards//Larry

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Postby anders » Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:37 pm

Tin foil, now replaced by aluminium, is stanniol in Swedish.

Here you'll find some historical facts about the Romans mining tin in Britain as well as tin quotes from the Bible.
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Re: STANNOUS

Postby M. Henri Day » Sat Jul 16, 2005 11:09 am

...

The Romance languages do not like words beginning with [s] + a consonant and resolve the problem by adding an initial [e]. ...
Mi scusi, caro dottore, but is Italian no longer a Romance language ? It was after all, if memory and anecdote do not fail, the one that Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (Carlos I of Spain) used in talking to the ladies (German, he said, was for talking to his horse), which sounds to me pretty romantic, indeed....

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

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Re: STANNOUS

Postby Stargzer » Sat Jul 16, 2005 4:03 pm

...

The Romance languages do not like words beginning with [s] + a consonant and resolve the problem by adding an initial [e]. ...
. . .
Henri
Perhaps that should have read: " . . . words beginning with [s] + the consonant 't'. Poor Doc has been busy of late, I understand. :wink:

When we talk of the EU in English we usually know we are talking about the European Union, but our Spanish-speaking friends appear to have two different groups in mind:
Estados Unidos

Unión Europea
(Translations from www.systranet.org )
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

M. Henri Day
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Re: STANNOUS

Postby M. Henri Day » Sun Jul 17, 2005 8:22 am

...

Perhaps that should have read: " . . . words beginning with [s] + the consonant 't'. Poor Doc has been busy of late, I understand. :wink:
Nice save, Larry ! But it still doesn't put l'idioma gentile back within the pale of the Romance languages, as the former contains innumerable words beginning with «st». Thus, for example, the equivalent in Italian of that «Estados Unidos» you mentioned is «Stati Uniti», with the interesting adjective «stati unitense» as a derivative. English itself is sadly in need of such an adjective, as «American» is either too narrow or too broad....

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

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Postby Brazilian dude » Sun Jul 17, 2005 10:55 am

statunitense [sta-tu-ni-tèn-se]

Definizione agg. degli Stati Uniti d'America
¶ s. m. e f. chi è nato, chi abita negli Stati Uniti d'America.
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:11 am

Both adjectival forms are used, as can be seen by a quick check via Google, but that named by BD is, in fact, about 20000 times as popular as the alternative I mentioned. Again, the interesting thing to my mind is the fact that no corresponding adjective seems to exist in English (or, for that matter, in other languages subject to major influence from that language, such as Swedish), thus forcing one to circumlocutions of the type «residents/citizens of the United States». In Spanish one can be somewhat more precise by using «norteamericano», but I am not entirely sure that Canadians are entirely happy with this solution....

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

anders
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Postby anders » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:23 am

There is the Swedish satirical magazine Grönköpings veckoblad. Grönköping is a fictious parochial little town, and veckoblad means weekly. The magazine appears once a month.

It uses the adjective USAmerikansk[/] (which I somteimes use in the form USAmerican). In English, I've also seen USAian.
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Postby Brazilian dude » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:40 am

In Spanish one can be somewhat more precise by using «norteamericano», but I am not entirely sure that Canadians are entirely happy with this solution....
Or estadunidense, also used in Portuguese, along with norte-americano, but I think we already had this discussion, and to satiety, as a matter of fact.

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Postby M. Henri Day » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:41 am

My apologies - I seem to have missed it ! I presume you can provide a link ?...

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

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Postby Brazilian dude » Sun Jul 17, 2005 12:11 pm

Here and here. There's a third one I can't locate right now.

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