• Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    No, because the alcohol in a drink (ethanol) is still not a solution.

    That’s not the original meaning either. The original meaning came from Arabic for a stibnite distillation used as eye liner. It came from Al-kuhl. It’s the same way that “spirit” came to mean a hard liquor. Distilling something down to its purest form was meant to harness the “spirit” of the thing.

    A given spirit is a solution of alcohol and water, but alcohol itself is not. Which makes the whole “technically” part of the joke fall flat.

    • meeeeetch@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Liquor is a solution.

      Finally fixed.

      Wine and beer probably are too, but I feel like there’s an off chance that some varieties of beers (saisons come to mind) could be suspensions.

      • Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yeah that would work to with the “technically”.

        “Alcohol is not a solution, but liquor technically is.”

      • Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Ethanol sure. There are hundreds of kinds of alcohols.

        Cholesterol is an alcohol. Sorbitol is an alcohol. Ethylene glycol is an alcohol. Propylene glycol is an alcohol.

        • Successful_Try543@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          As well as e.g. sugars. I know. Thus, commonly the term alcohol referrs to either Ethanol (“alcohol”) or the whole group of substances (“an alcohol”, “alcohols”).

      • BluesF@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        Ethanol can exist in pure form. It absorbs water as soon as it comes into contact with it, but 100% (or as close to 100% as any chemical) Ethanol is possible when stored correctly.