Cotton Gin

jmcandrew sends these in: “I didn’t realize that Eli Whitney was someone 6 year olds were familiar with. Also there’s a pretty funny Bizarro comic.”




But why GIN? Per Wikipedia, “gin” was simply short for engine in the 1700s, “cotton gin” literally meant “cotton engine,” and that name stuck far better than a functional description like “cotton seed remover.”

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  1. Unknown's avatar

    Hearts full of youth
    Hearts full of truth
    Six parts gin
    To one part vermouth
    — Tom Lehrer, “Bright College Days”

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