Rubidium, discovered in a failed attempt to make rhubarb pie

<Darren> x to de Tungsten
<jeeb> Darren: Wolfram
<Darren> And that's why the chemical symbol for tungsten is W
<Samwise> Would you mind explaining silver while you're at it?
<kaufman> x to de tin
<jeeb> kaufman: Zinn
<kaufman> sam: Latin Argentum, I believe
<Samwise> x to de lead
<jeeb> Samwise: Leitung
<KemloCaesar> it's from the french - Plomb
<KemloCaesar> and Mercury is from the latin - Hydrargyrum
<kaufman> and the plumber's from the lead
<KemloCaesar> kauf - right. Lead pipes.
<Darren> No, Lead is from the Latin, plumbum
<KemloCaesar> well
<kaufman> and the planet Mercury was discovered by HG Wells
<KemloCaesar> same root word
<Samwise> What about californium?
<Darren> God knows, Sam
<KemloCaesar> discovered by Glenn Seaborg
<KemloCaesar> at CalTech, i think
<kaufman> and "molybdenum" originated from babelfish
<KemloCaesar> that's actually pretty close to the truth
<Samwise> Francium, from Francine Lipshitz, who preferred her first name be used.
<Samwise> Rubidium, discovered in a failed attempt to make rhubarb pie
<KemloCaesar> named for the colour
<kaufman> and then there are the radio-active elements -- radium discovered by Marconi and Americium and Fermium honoring the AM and FM bands
<KemloCaesar> ruby-coloured
<Samwise> Oh, you mean i'm NOT RIGHT?
<KemloCaesar> sorry, reflex
<jacquilyn> I thought the FM band was honoured by all the numbered ones?
<Samwise> only 88-108
<KemloCaesar> Tantalum, named after a man who was condemned to hell for the human sacrifice of his son
<kaufman> next you'll be telling us krypton wasn't named after DC comics
<Samwise> Or Argon isn't all that noble.
<KemloCaesar> no, it was named after cryptography
<Samwise> Cheats on its taxes.
<KemloCaesar> argon is named after the many-fauceted scarlet emeralds
<jacquilyn> Hey, argon has more nobility in it's little finger than you have in your whole Nebraska corn-fed body, buddy.
<CrazyClimber> i thought that would be waterium
<CrazyClimber> or floodium
<kaufman> and Iodine was named to pay off a bet
<Samwise> Palladium - named after an RPG system
<jacquilyn> I thought it was named after teh Sega gaming centers?
<KemloCaesar> no, the discoverer enjoyed the company of women.
<KemloCaesar> Pal-Lady.
<Samwise> Eesh. Go back to being pedantic.
<kaufman> and then there's Ntsbladium ...
*** KemloCaesar has been kicked off channel #spinnwebe by jacquilyn (making the joke was bad, explaining it after was worse)
*** KemloCaesar has joined #spinnwebe
<KemloCaesar> I'm serious, though, about the name Tantalum
<KemloCaesar> Nickel and Copper are named for Satan
<kaufman> and billgatesium
<KemloCaesar> and Niobium is named for a woman whose children were burned alive by the gods for her sin of pride.