What's a Particle Friend?

June 7, 2009 1:43 AM

What is a "particle friend"?

I assume this has some connection to quantum physics, but I've seen it used lately in broader sense. Can anyone explain?

posted by maryh to writing & language (11 comments total)

There doesn't appear to be any meaning in quantum theory whatsoever; I've looked pretty closely now at the top few dozen google results for the phrase "particle friend," and I've got nothin'. I don't think this is a scientific phrase.

What context did you hear or see it in?
posted by koeselitz at 3:09 AM on June 7

I've never heard the term before.
posted by delmoi at 3:13 AM on June 7

Could it be related to strange attractors? I've never heard the phrase..
posted by cj_ at 3:20 AM on June 7

Particle friend: person with whom one could maybe have a casual sexual relationship - i.e. a friend with uncertain benefits.
posted by permafrost at 4:44 AM on June 7

Hmm, can you provide any context?
posted by Matt Oneiros at 6:11 AM on June 7

I've never heard the term in this sense, but perhaps it could be an informal reference to color confinement, the way that quarks resist being separated from their "friends". Alternatively, I suppose it could refer to quantum entanglement. But these are just guesses, some context for the term would be very helpful.
posted by Zonker at 6:53 AM on June 7

No, Triangle man hates particle friends, duh?

The only thing possibly useful things I could find on the Internet were three different misuses of "partical (sic) friend", each of them someone misspelling "particular".

If it's coming from a non-native English origin, I'd bank on that: it's a mangling/misuse of "particular", as in special, as in close, friend.
posted by rokusan at 7:49 AM on June 7

I'm not seeing a link to the Particle Man reference, so here it is... that was kind of my first thought too.
posted by crapmatic at 8:49 AM on June 7

I think of these guys. I keep thinking of getting a tachyon, which is one of the things I study; then I suppose it would be my friend tachyon.

I don't think the phrase has any special meaning either in physics or English. Yes, I think we need context here.
posted by nat at 9:28 AM on June 7

Thanks, everyone. As for the context: a few FB friends were circulating cartoons (sorry, no link) that, boiled down, were about people so lonely they had only their "particle friends" to keep them company. I haven't heard back from them yet about it, but I thought maybe this was some crazy hip new slang term that I'd completely missed the boat on.
posted by maryh at 11:34 AM on June 7

Particle Man, Particle Man
Doing the things a particle can
What's he like, it's not important
Particle Man

Is he a dot, or is he a speck
When he's underwater, does he get wet
Or does the water get him instead
Nobody knows, Particle Man


Lyrics. The Song.
posted by Ookseer at 12:12 PM on June 7