Chemical Formulas
Can you pass the nackle?
Can you pass the nackle?
This is another comic in the How to annoy series, this time targeting chemists. Cueball mispronounces carboxylic acids by reading their chemical formulas as phonetic words rather than giving any of their more proper chemical names. In the structural diagrams, also shown, there is an incorrect fifth bond between carbon and the OH-group just in the first of the molecules. Whether done by Randall intentionally, or otherwise, this would add to chemists' annoyance.
The first molecule, "HCOOH" is pronounced as "hakoo"; it is commonly known as formic acid (named after the ants which are known to produce it), but with the more systematic name of methanoic acid (due to being the carboxylic acid structured upon a single-carbon methane 'backbone'). The second, "CH3COOH" becomes "chuckoo", rather than either its systematic name of ethanoic acid (this time having a two-carbon ethane backbone, with the acid structure at one end) or the more common name of acetic acid (derived from the greek for vinegar, as this is the core constituent of traditional vinegar and its non-brewed condiment equivalent). This deliberate mispronunciation follows a similar pattern to 2492: Commonly Mispronounced Equations.
The title text extends the joke with "Can you pass the nackle," where "nackle" is a phonetic pronunciation of "NaCl" (sodium chloride), the primary component of table salt and rock salt. Unlike other chemical formulas like H2O ("hoe") or CO2 ("co-"), "nackle" is distinctive enough to be recognizable and is actually used jokingly.
The request for "nackle" could be interpreted either as a genuine request for the condiment or as a sarcastic response to someone's reaction to the initial joke - something to take with a grain of salt, er, nackle. The ambiguity is heightened by not knowing who makes the title text comment. Also, passing the salt has been mentioned in xkcd before.
Incidentally, three Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet contain "nacl" in their names: Nacli, Naclstack, and Garganacl, all being rock salt-based creatures. This naming scheme shows how the pronunciation of chemical formulas as words has entered popular culture beyond just chemistry jokes.