Diesel energy storage equipment

What is the origin of "sucker" and "it sucks"?

etymonline has for suck: O.E. sucan, from PIE root sug-/suk- of imitative origin. Meaning “do fellatio” is first recorded 1928. Slang sense of “be contemptible” first attested 1971 (the underlying notion is of

Origin of the phrase, "There''s more than one way to skin a cat."

There are many versions of this proverb, which suggests there are always several ways to do something. The earliest printed citation of this proverbial saying that I can find is in a short story

Is there a term for "mains power" in U.S. English?

After the hurricane, the hospital powered life support equipment from diesel generators for 36 hours, then switched back to the mains. "Grid" would also be acceptable. If you''re referring to

"If it works, it works"

I suppose a more realistic example is the development of powered pumps, locomotives etc. Newcomen''s atmospheric engine did a vital job, but was bettered by Watt''s improvements.

Origin of the phrase "Now we''re cooking with

The original is "Now You''re Cooking With Gas", supposedly part of an ad campaign from the era when gas stoves first started replacing wood stoves for cooking in the home. The Wikitionary entry cooking

grammatical number

When writing about specific quantities, should the verb reflect a singular or a plural value? Do abbreviations vs. spelled-out words make any difference? I took 2 ml of water, which was/were

Adjective for engine running at high speed

Close, but there''s an implication that the engine is unloaded or running at a harmfully high speed, which doesn''t fit the OP''s requirement of a gerund that means "working hard at top

Throttle is to slow down, but full throttle is max speed?

Originally, throttle meant throat. So "full-throttle" for a motorized vehicle is like a lion''s full-throated roar - the throttle/throat is opened as wide as possible (for maximum throughput of fuel or

Are names of chemicals not proper nouns?

Product names which are derived after an inventor''s name will often remain capitalized, though not always (e.g. the petroleum distillate used to power trucks and locomotives is called

gerund phrases

Even with uncountable nouns, for specific instances/types, we have nouns preceded by indefinite articles as in the following examples. It is cold outside! I could do with a hot tea! The old diesel