1205
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 15 May 2025
1205 points (100.0% liked)
People Twitter
6978 readers
1214 users here now
People tweeting stuff. We allow tweets from anyone.
RULES:
- Mark NSFW content.
- No doxxing people.
- Must be a pic of the tweet or similar. No direct links to the tweet.
- No bullying or international politcs
- Be excellent to each other.
- Provide an archived link to the tweet (or similar) being shown if it's a major figure or a politician.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
That's the wikipedia entry for wetting.
This is the definition of wet:
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/wet#English
Adjective
This might just be me, but I'll take a physical definition with sources over a dictionary example sentence. But the meaning of words is fluid, like how "literally" now also means "figuratively", so if you don't, that's okay. In scientific literature, where precise language matters, "wet", "wetness", "wettability" and "wetting" all refer to the process I've linked, however.
What you're calling "a physical definition with sources" would be more accurately as an online encyclopedia entry.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia
In other words, it's just you.
So then what are we arguing about? In common definition, as in the dictionary example from the source you i guess now regret linking, water is wet.
If you choose to define "wet" differently or in specific scientific contexts maybe water isn't wet.
Alright, sure. L. D. Landau, E. M. Lishitz: Course on Theoretical Physics 5: Statistical Physics, English translation 1951, p. 467ff, subchapter Wetting.
This is established science. I just thought Wikipedia might be an easier introduction.
I don't know what point you're trying to make.
What? I legit don't understand what you're trying to say. You linked a user-curated dictionary and pretended that's the be-all, end-all of definitions. I can do that as well, even if PhilosophyTube is going to beat my ass for it:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/wet
But I was talking about the scientific background of the term. This is not some hyper-specific term, but how it's used in almost* all of science.
*(The other somewhat common use is as a synonym of "humid", often used in climate amd atmospheric science. Which is irrelevant in the discussion "is water wet")
I'm lost as to why you are citing this.
Nobody throughout this thread is using specific jargon from the field of statistical physics.
We're simply discussing what the word "wet" means. I am not interested in your niche scientific subchapter on "wetting" in a 1951 theoretical physics textbook.
What that wikipedia article is explaining is that if you are interested in the meaning of a word and not just factual information about it, an encyclopedia (wikipedia) entry is the wrong place to look because "unlike a dictionary", it's not focused on the meaning of words.
Uh, you linked it. Thats your source. I just used it because you linked it as a source you trust?
You accidentally linked "wetting", but if you look at link you sent and go to the top of the page where it says
And then click that and you'll see
It's literally just 2 clicks inside the source you linked as the end-all, be-all lmao.
You're right, I wouldn't have just linked a dictionary entry as a thought ending cliche until you tried to and I showed you what your own source was saying about it.
I have no actual stake in this discussion beyond the fun of arguing. I could continue, for example by pointing out that in the article about "Encyclopedia" you linked it says
But I get the feeling you're taking this too seriously, and I'm not enjoying this anymore. So let's end it here, I hope you have a good day!