# A plastic glass, an online paper, and other material contradictions **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2022, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836 "2022-04-14T19:52:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/81 "2022-04-15T14:55:31Z")
Chalks, as in white sticks used for drawing on blackboards aren’t actually cut out of chalk. They are usually made of gypsum. Mankind invented music when a caveman blew into an animal horn. You can still find a Horn Section in a modern orchestra, but the various instruments are made of metal. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/82 "2022-04-15T15:03:09Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Mankind invented music when a caveman blew into an animal horn. You can still find a Horn Section in a modern orchestra, but the various instruments are made of metal. That’s a great one. And musicians refer to a French Horn as just a horn, in case there’s any question about it being a specific object. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/83 "2022-04-15T16:31:12Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > “A paper” is called that because it’s an object created with paper… On more careful reflection, I think you are completely right. I don’t see any conceptual difference between calling a scientific treatise a “paper” and calling a drinking container a “glass”. Nor any conceptual difference between the change to an electronic medium with the former and the change to plastic with the latter. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/84 "2022-04-15T16:33:29Z")
A car horn is almost always referred to simply as the horn. ---
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/85 "2022-04-15T17:02:54Z")
I don’t think it will satisfy OP, but I got to thinking of china (as in “fine china”), though it’s not an object and China is not a material. Neither is a saucer made out of sauce. Another country material of sorts is Japanning. And most lacquer isn’t, in my experience. No lac bugs involved. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/86 "2022-04-15T17:47:20Z")
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**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/87 "2022-04-15T18:11:56Z")
> [@omenran](#): > > I don’t think it will satisfy OP, but I got to thinking of china (as in “fine china”), though it’s not an object and China is not a material. Neither is a saucer made out of sauce. > > Another country material of sorts is Japanning. > > And most lacquer isn’t, in my experience. No lac bugs involved. Yeah, none of those are exactly the same thing. You don’t refer to “a china” in the same way you refer to “a glass.” Nor do you refer to “a lacquer” as an object (although you might refer to it as shorthand for a _variety_ of lacquer), nor is “lacquer” an exact namesake for the material from which it’s derived. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/88 "2022-04-15T19:05:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Well, I think that the most important parts of an iron are still made from steel, aren’t they? From post 4: > [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > [Ceramic Irons.](https://www.amazon.com/ceramic-irons-clothes/s?k=ceramic+irons+for+clothes) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/89 "2022-04-15T19:23:12Z")
Liquid Wrench or Liquid Bandage? But I think you’ve stated that “liquid” doesn’t qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/90 "2022-04-15T19:26:42Z")
How about the Britishism of calling adhesive bandages “plasters”? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/91 "2022-04-15T20:43:02Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Liquid Wrench or Liquid Bandage? But I think you’ve stated that “liquid” doesn’t qualify. 1. Not an object. 2. Not named for what it’s made from. 3. Name isn’t an exact namesake for a material. 4. The material they’re made from hasn’t changed, so there’s no “persist” in the name. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/92 "2022-04-15T20:54:42Z")
Baby oil? As far as silverware is concerned, there is the perfectly valid term “flatware”. Now about the United States five-cent coin: > [@k9bfriender](#): > > I thought about adding this one, [but when I looked it up](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_(United_States_coin)), I found that they are still 25% nickel, 75% copper. Indeed, and there have been discussions on this board about the illegality of melting these coins to recover the metallic content. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/93 "2022-04-15T20:57:43Z")
Similar to “faux fur”, I have a fleece coat that was never part of a sheep. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/94 "2022-04-15T22:27:59Z")
And such a garment is often referred to as “a fleece”. Good one! ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/95 "2022-04-15T23:42:07Z")
A paper straw Coppers (UK small denomination coins, now copper plated steel rather than 97% copper as previously) Credit cards are plastic, as I believe are some playing cards nowadays ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/96 "2022-04-16T00:35:56Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > A paper straw Good one! > [@](#): > > Coppers (UK small denomination coins, now copper plated steel rather than 97% copper as previously) You’ll have to ask the OP. Still partially made of copper. Clothes irons didn’t qualify for being partially made of iron. > [@](#): > > Credit cards are plastic, as I believe are some playing cards nowadays A card in this sense is a ‘piece of paper’. Cards made be made from cardstock, but I don’t think there’s a particular material called card. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/97 "2022-04-16T00:51:53Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > A paper straw That’s a slightly odd one. Drinking tubes are apparently ~5000 years old. But the word straw (for that application) apparently [only dates to 1851](https://www.etymonline.com/word/straw). Around that time, rye grass straws were popular. But were straws named after that, or just after a general resemblance to plant stalks? And does it make a difference to the OP that the 5000 year old tubes (made from metal) would be called straws now, even though they came first? What about the likelihood that even if rye grass straws were popular in the 1800s, it’s almost certain that _someone_ used a dried-out grass stalk to suck on some liquid long before then? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/98 "2022-04-20T00:55:21Z")
Reminded by _Narcos_ where Pablo Escobar offers the choice “plata o plomo” (silver or lead), “plumbers” no longer work with lead piping. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/99 "2022-04-20T01:40:30Z")
A plumber is not made of plumber. A plumber is not an object. A plumber was never made of lead. And plumbers do work with lead piping–such as when they remove old plumbing fixtures. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836/100 "2022-04-20T01:49:05Z")
The word plumb might be used instead of plumb bob, though they’re not always made of lead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-plastic-glass-an-online-paper-and-other-material-contradictions/962836.md?page=6)