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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Sunday, January 01, 2017


4 comments:

Stephen said...

Is this a parody, or a microwave recipe book? In the States we refer to microwaving things as "nuking" them..

CyberKitten said...

At first I just thought it was a spoof... then I thought it was an early mircowave cook book. But actually, although it *is* a real book it's not what it seems and shows how the meanings of words change over time.

"Back in the late 1920s radiation just meant radiant heat, not energy in the form of waves or moving subatomic particles emitted by an atom or other body as it changes from a higher energy state to a lower energy state, thus a cook book could proudly promote radiation cookery... All the oven recipes in this book have been selected and specially tried for the Radiation "New World" Oven, with "Regulo" automatic heat-controller, Single Oven Burner and direct bottom-flue-outlet. This unprecedentedly efficient and economical Oven is now incorporated in all the popular cookers made by the six Radiation firms, whose names have been for so long household words. No other ovens can give such splendid results, and no other firms manufacture the cookers. Cooking on such an oven was an automatic process; watching , or attention, on the part of the user was unnecessary. The same results could be be repeated with certainty from day to day".

Stephen said...

Hah! Now we associate only radiation with cancer or superheroes.

CyberKitten said...

One of the interesting things I find reading older literature is how some words came to mean different things over time - 'Gay' being a prime example. It can cause a lot of confusion if the context isn't completely clear....