What's a Particle Friend?
June 7, 2009 1:43 AM Subscribe
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?
I assume this has some connection to quantum physics, but I've seen it used lately in broader sense. Can anyone explain?
Could it be related to strange attractors? I've never heard the phrase..
posted by cj_ at 3:20 AM on June 7, 2009
posted by cj_ at 3:20 AM on June 7, 2009
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, 2009
posted by permafrost at 4:44 AM on June 7, 2009
Hmm, can you provide any context?
posted by Matt Oneiros at 6:11 AM on June 7, 2009
posted by Matt Oneiros at 6:11 AM on June 7, 2009
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, 2009
posted by Zonker at 6:53 AM on June 7, 2009
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, 2009
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, 2009
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, 2009
posted by crapmatic at 8:49 AM on June 7, 2009
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, 2009
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, 2009
Response by poster: 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, 2009
posted by maryh at 11:34 AM on June 7, 2009
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, 2009
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What context did you hear or see it in?
posted by koeselitz at 3:09 AM on June 7, 2009