History Main / ScaryScienceWords

* ''Series/YesMinister'': This causes a massive problem for Jim Haker in "The Greasy Pole". He is put in charge of approving the plan for a factory to produce Metadioxin which would greatly revamp the British chemical industry. Unfortunately whilst perfectly safe, the mere fact the substances name is similar to infamous toxic Dioxin compound causes massive public concern, with Jim fearing the tabloids exploiting the publics ignorance to accuse him of [[WouldHurtAChild poisoning children]] if he goes ahead, and the more respectable papers to lambaste him for ruining such a good business opportunity if he doesn't. Attempts to reassure even his fellow committee members go nowhere, as despite having the independent report assuring its "a completely inert compound", none of them (not even [[HypercompetentSidekick Sir Humphrey]]) know enough about chemistry to understand it and instead panic over the meaning of the technical terms.

Chemical formulaic names are often the subject of this — "Deoxyribonucleic acid" sounds a lot more exotic and scary than simply saying "DNA" — but it is far from restricted to chemicals; benign injuries can be made much more uncomfortable just by saying the medical term for what has happened; everyday physics can be made to sound like they belong in a particle accelerator if you let TheProfessor explain it, and one could argue that one of the reasons EveryoneHatesMath is because their math teacher went just a little too far with their explanations of proofs.

'''Zurg:''' IT! ''IT!'' D'oh you know! The ''Crystallic Self-perpetuating Breeder Construction Core''! And can't you come up with a shorter name for it? Like "Evil Takeover Thingy"?]\\

* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}''. In the Christmas special we have the Husbandoid of Queen Asphyxia threatening Admiral Blackadder with the Cultivation Chamber.

->'''Zurg:''' Lower it!
->'''Grub:''' Lower what, Sir?
->'''Zurg:''' IT! ''IT!'' D'oh you know! The ''Crystallic Self-perpetuating Breeder Construction Core''! And can't you come up with a shorter name for it? Like "Evil Takeover Thingy"?
->'''Grub:''' In test markets, four out of five victims surveyed were more frightened by big words.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax Dihydrogen Monoxide hoax]], already seen in several of the examples on this page, tells us that this is very much TruthInTelevision. It's essentially an ExpospeakGag that centers around convincing people that "dihydrogen monoxide" should be banned because it, amongst a slew of other things, [[MetaphoricallyTrue contributes to such things as greenhouse effects, acid rain, and corrosion, and is found in tumors]]. Thankfully, it doesn't take too long for someone (be it the prankster or some third party) to reveal that dihydrogen monoxide is the most commonly used chemical name for H[--2--]O. In order words, the entire joke is about convincing people to put a ban on water, because it was given a scary name. This is just as often used to prove a point about the need for scientific literacy as it is to make political opponents sound stupid. This works because the average person usually hears "monoxide" in relationship to carbon monoxide, which ''is'' toxic and a common byproduct of pollution. Without an understanding of chemical nomenclature, they end up thinking this other kind of monoxide has to be just as bad.

* The popular rhetoric “If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it!” is a quote from Michael Pollan, the author of "In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto." In theory, this is meant to warn consumers against eating highly-processed foods and provide guidelines to identify these products to combat growing health epidemics. In practice, it only served to promote this trope and cause a fear of chemicals of any kind, despite the fact that perfectly sound ingredients in even the most healthy foods can read like impossible tongue twisters for the unknowledgeable. And also, ''everything'' is made of chemicals, even "natural" products. For example, [[https://jameskennedymonash.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/ingredients-of-a-banana-poster-4.jpeg here's what is in your average non-GM banana.]] It was quickly phased out as something actually taught in public school health classes and educational programming as a result of this, but it still remains as a common guideline for how to improve one's diet.