General question: why do acids play a bigger role in culture/language than alkalis? Why not 'alkaline tongue'?
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Acids are more powerful than bases for a given tech level.
Cf. oxidizers (saltpeter, bleach) v. reducing agents (ascorbic, Zn(Hg))
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Hope that's a rhetorical question because the answer's pretty basic.
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Nowadays, there seem to be more varieties of acids commonly available for household cleaning, but not sure availability historically.
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acid is easy to understand in terms of flavors. only thing teachers ever told me about bases was "why hands feel slimy w/soap"
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The detailed distinction may not have been known, with 'acid' being used colloquially for anything that does chemical burning,
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