Difference between revisions of "Nitrosyncretic Laboratory"
(Created page with "An obscure reference to an obscure book, “'''Nitrosyncretic Laboratory'''” is a shibboleth for Heinlein fans. It didn’t appear in any of his books, and he didn...") |
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! KEEP OUT ! | ! KEEP OUT ! | ||
| − | While ''nitrosyncretic'' — check your favorite dictionary for ''nitro'' and ''syncretic'' — was a coinage of Holmes’ (aka [[Tony Boucher]] aka [[William Anthony Parker White]]), Heinlein’s home did have such a sign. (It actually read “Xozylophone Laboratory,” according to [[ | + | While ''nitrosyncretic'' — check your favorite dictionary for ''nitro'' and ''syncretic'' — was a coinage of Holmes’ (aka [[Tony Boucher]] aka [[William Anthony Parker White]]), Heinlein’s home did have such a sign. (It actually read “Xozylophone Laboratory,” according to [[Walt Daugherty]].) |
The [[Slan Shack]]’s denizens labeled their kitchen “Nitrosyncretic Lab.” | The [[Slan Shack]]’s denizens labeled their kitchen “Nitrosyncretic Lab.” | ||
Revision as of 18:39, 6 August 2020
An obscure reference to an obscure book, “Nitrosyncretic Laboratory” is a shibboleth for Heinlein fans. It didn’t appear in any of his books, and he didn’t coin it, so if you get it, you’re one of the cognoscenti.
Where it did appear was in H. H. Holmes’ 1942 mystery novel, Rocket to the Morgue, a roman à clef in which a thinly disguised RAH figures as a central character, sf writer Austin Carter. Carter, bothered by door-to-door salesmen, scared them off with a sign on his door:
!!! DANGER !!!
NITROSYNCRETIC LABORATORY
! KEEP OUT !
While nitrosyncretic — check your favorite dictionary for nitro and syncretic — was a coinage of Holmes’ (aka Tony Boucher aka William Anthony Parker White), Heinlein’s home did have such a sign. (It actually read “Xozylophone Laboratory,” according to Walt Daugherty.)
The Slan Shack’s denizens labeled their kitchen “Nitrosyncretic Lab.”
| Fiction |
| This is a fiction page, describing fictional ideas and characters |
