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

Audio (Southern England): (file)
(Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˌæsɪd ˈtɛst/
Rhymes: -ɛst

Noun

acid test (plural acid tests)

(chemistry) A test involving the reaction of an acid with another chemical.
(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.
- 1920 April 10 – August 28, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, chapter 1, in The Little Warrior [Jill the Reckless], New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 8 October 1920, →OCLC, section 1, pages 7–8:
  "Eggs, Parker," said Freddie solemnly, "are the acid test!" / "Yes, sir?" / "If, on the morning after, you can tackle a poached egg, you are all right. If not not. And don't let anybody tell you otherwise."
- 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^[2], archived from the original on 12 April 2023:
  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.
- 2026 May 2, Simon Tisdall, “The king went to Washington to save Britain’s bacon. He may also have shown the US how to save itself”, in The Guardian‎^[3], →ISSN:
  The Iran war – barely mentioned during this visit for fear of eruptions – is an acid test.
(by extension, historical) In the 1960s, a party based around the use and advocacy of the psychedelic drug LSD (known in slang as acid).
- 1968, Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →OCLC, page 253:
  The Pranksters had just held an Acid Test at the Fillmore Auditorium, a big ballroom in the middle of one of San Francisco's big Negro slums, the Fillmore district. It was a wild night. Hundreds of heads and bohos from all over the Bay area turned out, zonked to the eyeballs.

Derived terms

acid test ratio

Translations

rigorous test or appraisal of the quality or worth of something

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Bengali: অগ্নিপরীক্ষা (bn) (ogniporikkha) (figuratively)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 洗禮 / 洗礼 (sai² lai⁵)

Mandarin: 決定性考驗 / 决定性考验 (juédìngxìng kǎoyàn), 洗禮 / 洗礼 (zh) (xǐlǐ)
Finnish: happotesti
French: épreuve du feu (fr) f, épreuve par le feu (fr) f
German: Lackmustest (de)
Greek: λυδία λίθος (el) f (lydía líthos), βάσανος (el) f (vásanos)
Irish: promhadh an aigéid m
Italian: banco di prova (it) m
Macedonian: гла́вно испиту́вање n (glávno ispitúvanje), про́верка f (próverka)
Romanian: probă de foc
Russian: серьёзное испыта́ние n (serʹjóznoje ispytánije)
Spanish: prueba de fuego, prueba del algodón f
Swedish: eldprov (sv) n, stålbad (sv) n

party based around the use and advocacy of the psychedelic drug LSD

Finnish: happobileet pl
Macedonian: please add this translation if you can

References

^ “acid test, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “acid test, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
^ “acid test”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present.
^ Jesse Jarnow (30 November 2015), “Acid Tests Turn 50: Wavy Gravy, Merry Prankster Ken Babbs Look Back”, in Rolling Stone‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: Penske Media Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 March 2023.

Anagrams

dictates, testacid

[1] “acid test, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “acid test, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[2] “acid test”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present.

[3] Jesse Jarnow (30 November 2015), “Acid Tests Turn 50: Wavy Gravy, Merry Prankster Ken Babbs Look Back”, in Rolling Stone‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: Penske Media Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 March 2023.

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