acid test

English
WOTD – 15 July 2023

Etymology

From acid +‎ test; sense 1 (“test involving the reaction of an acid with another chemical”) and sense 2 (“rigorous test or appraisal of the quality or worth of something”) refer to the use of nitric acid to test if a metal is gold; true gold is not affected by the acid.[1]

Sense 3 (“party based around the use and advocacy of the psychedelic drug LSD”) is a pun referencing the slang term acid (“LSD”). The original “acid test” parties were thrown by the Merry Pranksters group between 1965 and 1966 and advertised by the slogan “Can you pass the acid test?”[2][3]

Pronunciation

Noun

acid test (plural acid tests)

  1. (chemistry) A test involving the reaction of an acid with another chemical.
  2. (figuratively) A rigorous test or appraisal of the quality or worth of something.
    Coordinate term: litmus test
    • 1912 October, Louis Joseph Vance, “The Spy”, in The Destroying Angel, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, →OCLC, page 152:
      [H]e reflected that few professional beauties could have stood, as this woman did, the acid test of that mercilessly brilliant morning.
    • 2020 May 20, Stefanie Foster, “Comment: Safety First: Now More than Ever”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:
      The acid test: will the British public abide by such stringent guidelines about where they should stand, walk or sit in our stations and on our trains, when they have been used to a turn-up-and-go railway where they enjoyed freedom having bought their ticket?
    • 2021 July 7, Phil McNulty, “European Championship – Semi-final: England 2 – 1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport‎, archived from the original on 2023-04-12:
      This was the acid test – at least before Sunday's final with formidable Italy – and they came up with the goods not only in the context of Euro 2020 but also in demonstrating their character and big match mentality.
  3. (by extension, historical) In the 1960s, a party based around the use and advocacy of the psychedelic drug LSD (known in slang as acid).

Derived terms
  • acid test ratio

Translations

See also

References
  1. “acid test, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “acid test, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. Jonathon Green (2024), “acid test”, in Green's Dictionary of Slang
  3. Jesse Jarnow (30 November 2015), “Acid Tests Turn 50: Wavy Gravy, Merry Prankster Ken Babbs Look Back”, in Rolling Stone‎, New York, N.Y.: Penske Media Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-15.

Further reading

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