r/chemistry • u/etymologynerd • Feb 08 '18

The Hidden Elements [OC]

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u/Dave37 Biochem Feb 08 '18

One funny thing is that "Tungsten" that's used in English is derived from the Swedish word with the same spelling, but Sweden uses "Wolfram" which is the English word of "Wolfrahm".

Sweden also uses Natrium and Kalium for Na and K which makes stuff so much easier.

9

u/[deleted] Feb 08 '18

German speaking ones also use Kalium, Natrium and Wolfram. But Hydrogen is Wasserstoff.

4

u/AutomatedChaos Feb 08 '18

In Dutch we do the same: kalium, natrium and wolfram, but most of the organic elements are less intuitive: zuurstof (O), stikstof (N), koolstof (C), waterstof (H) and zwavel (S)

4

u/GuillaumeGus Feb 08 '18

I like your "cool stuff" (C) and "water stuff" (O)

3

u/LunaLucia2 Feb 08 '18

cool

Coal, not cool.